[ warning: it’s long af ]

For the first time in days, Chanyeol dreamt.

Baekhyun. His were eyes closed, bare feet carefully gliding along as he danced in the grass. Fireflies. At his fingertips, around his legs, tangled in his hair. Strings of light trailed behind him, splitting through the darkness of the surrounding area with each slow step, like ribbons floating in the wind with each pirouette.

For the first time in weeks, Chanyeol remembered how beautiful dreams could be.

Entranced, Chanyeol slowly reached out as if to touch him, as if attempting to confirm that this beautiful display of life, light, and color was real, but Baekhyun and all the colorful dancing lights seemed to draw away. Chanyeol took a step forward, and then another, and then he was running, chasing after Baekhyun, who only seemed to be retreating further with every step Chanyeol took, until all of the light faded into darkness, taking Baekhyun along with it, and Chanyeol was just aimlessly reaching out into the dark with a useless shout of his name. Only a tug on his shirt from behind stopped him. He turned to see Jongin, his fist aimed at his face, and as it hit, Chanyeol staggered backward in numb surprise, his eyes wide and confused as he fell to the ground. Jongin’s fingers curled in his shirt as he tugged him up from the floor, but Chanyeol was unable to focus on anything but the bleeding scratches on his face. Jongin was screaming, yet Chanyeol heard nothing but the ringing in his ears as his vision blurred.

“Baekhyun isn’t here! He’s not coming back; how long is it going to take you to realize that?!”

Chanyeol sat there quietly, panting as the words echoed in the endless black space of his mind, barely taking notice as Jongin slowly warped into Kyungsoo. Holding a long, thin rapier underneath his chin, his short nemesis chuckled darkly. “It’s pathetic, really,” he whispered, lowering his sword to Chanyeol’s belly button, and with a simple forward, everything faded to black.

Chanyeol’s eyelids were heavy as he awoke the next morning. His muscles were sore, his thighs and arms ached as he stretched, pausing only as he looked down to take notice of the small blonde man curled in his arms, his body hot as he shuffled against Chanyeol’s chest in his sleep, lips parted to take in soft breaths of air and let out a small whimper.

Chanyeol could feel himself slowly waking, and a smile spread across his face as he was overcome with feelings of adoration, protection, affection, love.

He wrapped his arms around Baekhyun and brushed his nose against his nape, letting his sweet scent tickle his nose.

Chanyeol didn’t have a favorite scent, but if he was asked, he would smile and respond “Baekhyun.” Baekhyun’s scent in the mornings, raw, pure, and divine, the scent in the afternoon that lingered on his lips when he kissed him, the scent in the evenings when they would lie down to sleep that seeped into his dreams.

Chanyeol’s favorite everything was simply Baekhyun.

Baekhyun stirred in Chanyeol’s arms, turning over as he slowly awoke to the touch of his lips on his neck. “Chanyeol?”

“Don’t move.” Chanyeol placed his hand on the back of Baekhyun’s head, drawing him into his chest with a soft sigh. “Let’s stay like this for just a bit longer.

Baekhyun shuffled against his husband’s chest with a lazy hum and a slow nod.

As Baekhyun relaxed in his arms, Chanyeol could hear Jongin’s words repeating in his head.

‘He’s not coming back, hyung.’

He held on tighter.

From Jongin: ‘Looks like a thunderstorm.’

Every ticking second of the clock throbbed in Chanyeol’s head as he watched Baekhyun tap his fingers on the windowpane to the tune of his agony.

“It’s been raining a lot these days, hasn’t it?” Baekhyun asked as he stared out the window. “I’m not as fast as I used to be; I wonder if I can still dodge them when it’s raining this heavily.”

Chanyeol sighed, reaching forward to draw him into his arms. “How about we spend at least one day this week without forcing me to run after you as you do something dangerous?”

Baekhyun laughed, looking up from the window to Chanyeol. “Is that a warning for me or for you?”

Chanyeol frowned down to Baekhyun before resting his chin on top of his head. “Both of us.”

Baekhyun smiled and closed his eyes. “I’m not the reckless one here; who’s the one that always burns everything when he’s upset?” he asked with a soft laugh, expecting another snarky remark from his husband, but Chanyeol’s arms just tightened around the blonde’s small frame, and he remained quiet. Baekhyun’s laughter faded out, his smile turning into a thin line as he looked back out the window at the rain. Chanyeol’s eyes slowly lowered to stare at Baekhyun’s reflection in the window.

It was their final day together.

Chanyeol had made a large breakfast in the morning and a large dinner, and throughout it all, Baekhyun gave him curious, concerned glances, graciously accepting everything with a “Thank you, but you didn’t have to do this.” Every so often, he would put his hand on Chanyeol’s arm as he’d ask, “Is something wrong? Are you okay?” Chanyeol would just nod with a soft “Please enjoy it.”

There were no plans to go out, especially not while it was raining, and no plans to do anything inside. There were no cookies to be made, nor were there any walls to be painted, drawings to be drawn, melodies to be sung. Chanyeol had been awkwardly silent for the whole day, and Baekhyun easily noticed it, but he knew better than to ask. Asking would only be met with more silence. Rather, Baekhyun stayed by his side, snuggling up against him and curling his fingers in the gaps between Chanyeol’s whenever he was given the chance, just to imply a simple I’m here, and I love you.

Chanyeol couldn’t believe that he had already spent a week doting on Baekhyun until there was nothing left to dote on, yet it still felt like there was everything left to be said and no time left to say it. His tongue was heavy with words, but his throat, dry with unease.

Chanyeol’s eyes drifted away from Baekhyun’s reflection and focused back on the heavy patter of the rain. Baekhyun would be leaving today. And he’d never return.

Baekhyun made a noise of discomfort as he squirmed in Chanyeol’s arms, loosening them enough to slip out from his embrace. Chanyeol looked down to him with a question forming on his lips, quickly silenced by Baekhyun’s “Stay there, I’ll be right back,” and Chanyeol was left behind, only able to sigh as he watched him leave, before turning back to the window.

This is it, he mused as he watched the droplets race down the glass. He closed his eyes with a soft groan, another burden settling on his shoulders as he thought it all over. He had a plan, at least, although whether it would work in his favor or not was still unknown. Would the choices he made today make Baekhyun happy? Would he suffer? Most importantly, would he survive? And if he did, would he forgive him?

It was their final day, yet nothing about his plans were final. He had more questions than he had answers, more worries than assurances. Baekhyun might live. Baekhyun might die. All of the possible outcomes were causing him such a headache; he almost preferred when he was stuck thinking in absolutes. And even now, it was still such a small chance, was it truly even worth all the stress and ambiguity? He had been continuously glancing at Baekhyun’s calendar, willing the date to flip back, wishing that flipping back the days would actually turn back time so they could pause time and just coexist for a little bit longer, but even Chanyeol knew that was impossible. It was their final day together. Their final chance to kiss under the stars, their final chance to touch, to harmonize, to love, to truly feel alive. It was Chanyeol’s final chance to say “I love you,” yet he couldn't say anything at all, and he was stuck here instead, solemnly watching the rain stream down the window.

A tap on his shoulder and the soft piano of a familiar tune drew him out of his thoughts. He turned around to Baekhyun, wearing a suit and tie, holding his hand out with a shy smile. “May I have this dance?”

Baekhyun hummed as they twirled in unhurried circles, step by slow step, soft tendrils of light streaming behind them, bubbles of light floating, dancing around them to the music, and bursting in sync with Baekhyun’s soft giggles. Light sparkled around their bare toes on the cold, hardwood floor, and if Chanyeol focused hard enough, it was almost just like their wedding day all over again, with Baekhyun in his white suit, dancing like they were the only two in the room, everyone else forgotten and silent in the midst of their happiness.

Chanyeol let a genuine smile touch his lips for the first time that day.

They danced to their song, letting their worries drown out with the rain, for as long as they were inside, they were safe; as long as Baekhyun was in Chanyeol’s arms, he was safe, and right now, nothing could touch them. Nothing could disturb them. And they danced into the evening as the music played, Baekhyun singing the melody, Chanyeol humming the harmony, buzzing with joy and laughter in the open space of the room. With Chanyeol’s arms around Baekhyun’s waist, and Baekhyun’s arms on his shoulders, it seemed so simple, but the mutual feelings shared between them were anything but ordinary.

Instead of saying I love you, let me show you.

Chanyeol’s steps slowed and he pulled Baekhyun in for a tight hug. Baekhyun’s arm eventually s up behind Chanyeol’s head as he pulled their foreheads together, their noses touching as Baekhyun let out a soft giggle, his body giving off a low glow as he unconsciously floated up slightly from the floor, and Baekhyun was so happy just being caught up in recreating all the similarities of their wedding night, from the soft, chaste kisses shared like sparks between their lips, to the lights as they twirled slowly in the air. But Chanyeol stayed rooted to the ground, seeming to be invested in something else.

He let his head droop as he rested his chin on Baekhyun’s shoulder, then turned to place a soft kiss on his neck, letting his lips linger longer than necessary.

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun asked softly, the light dancing on the walls slowing as the music in the background began to fade.

Chanyeol’s voice was soft. “Let me hold you for a bit.”

Baekhyun’s smile dimmed as his glow slowly faded, and he lowered to the floor, his feet cold against the hardwood as he stood pressed against Chanyeol.

Chanyeol took in a deep breath and tightened his arms around his husband. The music had stopped, replaced by the wind and rain tapping against the windows. This was terrible. Misery and bliss wrapped into one. It was breathing in one breath of precious air, knowing that he’d have to let it out. But he’d hold his breath for as long as he could, if only it’d give him a little bit longer to hold on, to at least pretend everything would be okay.

He breathed in.

I need you like I need air, like a flame needs oxygen to burn, like a lightbulb needs energy to shine.

He breathed out.

These were the last few minutes that he had left to spend with Baekhyun.

They stood there in silence, unable to ignore the thick, dark clouds that had been looming over Chanyeol’s head for any longer, and all the tension that had evaporated began to refill the room like a sudden downpour of rain, flooding the room with unease and anxiety. They stood there quietly, letting themselves drown in the silence between them, and the stress of the situation clung to their feet like anchors, dragging Baekhyun underneath the waves. Yet he stood there, letting Chanyeol hold on to him so tightly that he couldn’t breathe as they sank to the bottom together. A flash of lightning from outside made Baekhyun jump slightly, and the patter of rain on the roof and the windows took place of the silence. Baekhyun took in a slow breath as he shuffled uncomfortably in Chanyeol’s arms.

“Let me… go start the song over,” Baekhyun mumbled as he broke from Chanyeol’s hold, turning away from him until Chanyeol caught his wrist.

“Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun glanced back to him, his beautiful eyes wide in confusion. “Yes?”

Chanyeol stared at him for a few seconds, another awkward silence forming like a thick wall between them. If he could, Chanyeol would build it around Baekhyun like a fortress if it’d keep him safe. His eyes softened in distress. “Please don’t go.”

Baekhyun blinked. “...What?”

Chanyeol gave a slight tug to pull him closer. “Let’s just… stay here tonight. How does that sound?”

Baekhyun resisted, his fingers itching to pull away from him. “What do you mean?”

“I love you. You know that, right?” Chanyeol’s smile was forced and awkward.

“Of course I do, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun responded with a tilt of his head, “what’s gotten into you?”

“So please just trust me when I ask you to stay here.”

“Wh… what do you mean ‘stay here’?” Baekhyun asked with a bemused laugh, concern drawing heavy set creases across his forehead. “We have nowhere to go; it’s raining, and we’re–”

Their phones buzzed simultaneously, and although Baekhyun immediately looked down to check it, Chanyeol didn’t need to. It was a message from Jongin. Kyungsoo and Jongdae. Outskirts of town. Help requested immediately.

Baekhyun slowly looked back up to Chanyeol.

“...Yeol?”

Chanyeol’s hand tightened. “Don’t leave.”

“Ch… Chanyeol, we…”

Chanyeol’s eyes darkened, his voice cracking in desperation. “Please don’t leave.”

Baekhyun’s voice shook as he subtly tried to pull away. “We… we have to go–”

Chanyeol’s hand tightened around his thin wrist. “I’m begging you not to leave.”

Baekhyun’s eyes shook slightly, laden in fear. “Why...”

Chanyeol only stared back at him in silence, unable to explain. Scared to even breathe the words, lest it seal his fate. All the fears, the possibilities, the mistakes ran through Chanyeol’s mind at once. Would leaving Baekhyun at home be a mistake? Would letting him tag along be a mistake? Yixing’s words repeated in his head. You can only do this once. Messing up and letting Kyungsoo and Jongdae rampage the city while Baekhyun may still not be alive after the night ends anyway…

If Baekhyun survives… will he be happy?

Chanyeol paled at the thought of Baekhyun sitting alone in his room, knees folded up to his chest, sobbing past the point of dehydration until he passed out. Baekhyun making pots of coffee for someone who wasn’t there and wouldn’t come back. Baekhyun not eating, not drinking, not sleeping because of nightmares. Surviving, breathing, but not living...

If Baekhyun survives… would he live?

Would it be a mistake to let the man he loves run straightforward into his death, but knowing the city would be destroyed if he did otherwise...

He let go.

Baekhyun took a step back with a nervous laugh. “Come on, Yeol, they’re probably waiting for us.”

Chanyeol stared at him for a few seconds, watching all the emotions flicker in his eyes.

“I don’t know what you’re so worried about, but everything will be fine, just like usual,” Baekhyun mumbled as he adjusted his suit jacket and headed off toward the door. “Have a little faith in me, yeah?”

“Baekhyun.” Baekhyun paused with one hand on the doorknob to glance over his shoulder. Chanyeol cleared his throat and looked away, the faint pink of an embarrassed blush touching his cheeks as he softly muttered, “Tell me you love me.”

Baekhyun turned around looking annoyed or scandalized, but Chanyeol wouldn’t look at him enough to tell the difference. “Are you questioning me? Come on, Yeol we don’t have time for this–”

“I’m not questioning you, I just… I need to hear it. Please.”

Baekhyun frowned and stepped forward to place his hand on Chanyeol’s cheek. He stood on the tips of his toes to give him a quick, chaste kiss. “I love you, idiot. Today, tomorrow, forever.”

Chanyeol looked down to Baekhyun for a few long seconds before he pulled Baekhyun closer to him and softly whispered into his hair, “I love you more.”

Rain. Darkness rolled between the trees and the bushes lining the path through the forest, split only by Baekhyun’s glowing figure as he glided along, ignorant to what lie ahead, just beyond the outskirts of the city. Unlike him, Chanyeol couldn’t get the images out of his mind, and with each step further into the night, he could feel static panic pooling in the puddles of low yellow light from the streetlamps. He almost expected the lights to burst. With every flash of lightning in the distance, with every clap of thunder, he saw scenes reminiscent of what he saw running up this path the first time. He saw glass shards reflecting the moonlight in the streets, blood mixing with the rain, fallen leaves, broken dreams shimmering in the air.

“Hurry up, Chanyeol!”

He shook the images from his head and followed Baekhyun.

The rain felt like weights, tugging him down as he ran behind Baekhyun. Yixing hadn’t picked up any of his calls earlier that day, and the frustration from everything was really taking its toll, and now here he was, about to run into battle with a plan full of holes and a husband whom he needed to protect and keep him ignorant of it the entire time. Chanyeol was being pulled apart by this inner turmoil, stuck between keeping quiet while hoping this would all go smoothly, and telling Baekhyun what he knew of his fate and what Chanyeol would try to do to stop it. He shook his head. Baekhyun would never agree.

Chanyeol blinked the rain from his eyes as he watched Baekhyun slow down at the edge of a stream, waiting for Chanyeol to catch up, shouting something back at him about being too slow. As Chanyeol caught up to him, Baekhyun turned to dash away, but Chanyeol stopped him quickly by gripping his wrist tightly.

“You stay by my side, okay?” he shouted above the booming thunder and downpour of rain.

Baekhyun turned back around to face him. “What?”

“Stay by me!” He grasped the blonde’s face with his free hand, trembling fingers curling lightly against his cheeks as his voice softened. “Don’t let me lose you.” I can’t lose you again.

Baekhyun laughed that anxious laugh again, and Chanyeol’s stomach churned as he pulled away. “Stop making me nervous.” He hopped forward, trailing light behind him in springs as he skipped along the loose stones in the rain. “Keep up, Yeol!”

Chanyeol sighed as he followed along, wishing he had a flame strong enough to put out all this rain.

Baekhyun’s light soon faded as he slid to a stop to keep himself from running into Sehun and Jongin, waiting at the edge of the forest. Sehun smiled as he took Baekhyun by the elbow and led him away from Chanyeol, who was left staring in their direction until Jongin clapped him on the back.

“So Sehun and I came up with something we think may work. I know you told us to be prepared, but we didn’t expect an all out war with those two if anything.” Chanyeol gave a grunt as he turned from Baekhyun to Jongin. “I’ve tracked them just beyond the bridge. They haven’t moved for the past several minutes.”

Chanyeol glanced up to the large suspension bridge between them and whatever was going on outside of the town. This wasn’t the right location. Why not the fairgrounds? “Are they waiting for something?”

“We don’t know, but if they are, let’s stop them before we find out. This is our plan. Baekhyun and Sehun…”

Chanyeol nodded to the first few points Jongin made before he slowly began fading into the depths of his mind along with the soft patter of rain. He let his head turn toward Baekhyun, crouching behind the bushes, nodding enthusiastically at whatever Sehun was telling him. Without a doubt, Baekhyun would ignore their plan anyway to rush in and do something stupid like usual, and the thought of losing him in battle, especially in such a preventable accident, was making Chanyeol’s head spin while regret and fear began to pool in the pit of his stomach.

He couldn’t do this.

“Are you even listening to a word I’m saying?”

“Jongin,” Chanyeol cut in, quickly turning back to face the teleporter. “Take Baekhyun home.”

Jongin’s face dropped from anger to surprise. “What? What do you mean take him home? This is Kyungsoo and Jongdae we’re up against. This is no time for games; we have a plan–”

Chanyeol began to stand, waving Jongin away. “I know, now take him home and keep him there, keep him safe!”

“Wha– Chanyeol, why?”

“Just do it! Now!”

Jongin barely got in another shout of his name before Chanyeol began running off toward the other two.

“Change of plans; you’re with me,” Chanyeol barked, tugging Sehun up from the ground and running off, shouting back to Baekhyun, “Go with Jongin!”

Sehun looked between the two of them, giving Baekhyun a confused look, and Baekhyun only returned a shrug. Sehun followed after Chanyeol like a lost deer as Jongin kicked at a bush before he began running over toward them, shouting something that Sehun couldn’t hear over a clap of thunder, much too near for anyone’s comfort. Baekhyun shouted something back at Jongin and pushed him away, running off in the other direction. Sehun paused to watch as Jongin childishly chased after him.

“Sehun!” Sehun snapped out of his daze at the sound of Chanyeol’s voice, “Come on!”

Sehun quickly jogged over to Chanyeol’s side as he shot glances over his shoulder, watching Baekhyun shout at Jongin as they tumbled in the grass before Jongin could roll on top of him and clamp his hand over his mouth before finally disappearing into smoke. “What’s going on?”

“They’ll be fine,” Chanyeol huffed, tugging Sehun along behind him.

Sehun looked back up to Chanyeol. “Will we be fine?”

Chanyeol gave a nod. “We’ll be fine.”

“It seems our guests have arrived.” Kyungsoo’s voice split through the air like a clap of thunder as Chanyeol and Sehun approached.

“Battle plan?” Sehun asked, worry scrawled across his brow.

Chanyeol gave a quick, distracted nod. “Yeah. Don’t die.”

“Jongdae!” Kyungsoo shouted, throwing a metal pole in his direction. Jongdae caught the pole and sent a pulse of power through it, sparking with green electricity, highlighting the crazed look in his eyes. “I think we’ll be finished quickly today.”

“Yeol…” Sehun said apprehensively, hiding behind Chanyeol’s back.

Chanyeol shielded Sehun from the two, his body beginning to bristle with his flame. “Just stay behind me, you’ll be fine.”

Kyungsoo smiled from across the expanse of land, absentmindedly twirling a strand of hair around his finger. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, Park, but unfortunately, tonight you’re not the main event.”

The ground shook. It felt like a stampede of wild gazelle approaching with haste and chaos, and Chanyeol looked up toward the horizon as an army of people clad in bulky, metal suits, marching in sync rolled over the hills in waves of gleaming silver.

Sehun tensed, tugging back on Chanyeol’s wrist to retreat, but Chanyeol stood his ground, albeit wide-eyed and confused.

This was… different. This should have been just like the attack the first time. If there were this many people during the first raid back then, Baekhyun would have known better than to stay and fight them all off. In fact, Kyungsoo and Jongdae wouldn't have run away that night either if they had another phase to their plan. With an entire army behind him, he was almost invincible. They weren't prepared for anything of this scale. Chanyeol’s eyebrow twitched as he stared up to Kyungsoo, who looked cocky as ever with an amused smirk playing on his lips.

“I was going to save this part of the game until later, but I thought, ‘Why not have a surprise party’?”

“Someone told them we were coming,” Chanyeol muttered to himself.

Sehun started. “You think there’s a leak in the team?”

Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed, his grip tightening around Sehun’s wrist. He’d rather do this alone. “No. I trust the three of you.”

Kyungsoo’s army marched inward, forming a tight circle around the two of them as Kyungsoo continued speaking, but they were too preoccupied to listen.

Sehun tensed under the glare of the metal-bound soldiers behind their shielded visors. “If they're citizens, we can't hurt them.”

Chanyeol placed his hand on one of their chests and shot a burst of flame through it that quickly spread to the two beside it, consuming the three in fire, but Chanyeol only watched as they just stood there, noting the sparks of green electricity buzzing around their suits and the hole full of singed wires in the chest of the middle’s.

Sehun gasped. “Fire resistant?”

“They're androids.”

“So hasty today,” Kyungsoo cut in with a laugh as the androids drew their weapons. “But they don’t like playing games, you see.”

Chanyeol pulled Sehun closer to him as they held their breaths. But what was Kyungsoo waiting for? Being teased like this was a nuisance, but perhaps the humiliation was a form of attack itself.

“Ah,” Kyungsoo chuckled, “the terror on your face is delightful. But letting them kill you wouldn’t be fun; that’s not their purpose. I’d rather do it myself. They’d love to stay and chat, but they have a city to terrorize.”

The ground shook once again as the androids began shifting around them, marching away from Chanyeol and Sehun and in toward the city.

“Stop them!” Chanyeol shouted, shooting out short bursts of flame to hold them back.

Sehun followed suit, cutting through them fearlessly now that he knew he wasn’t hurting anyone. “There’s too many!” he cried out as they slipped past their defense. Frustrated that they could do nothing more than this, Chanyeol let out a shout until the familiar sound of static crinkling in the air disturbed his ears, and the hair on the back of his neck began to stand. He tugged Sehun back from his position as a bolt of lightning struck the ground in front of them, stopping them from their attack.

“Keep your eyes on me!” Jongdae shouted, rushing toward them to keep them busy as Kyungsoo lead the remaining androids away. Chanyeol and Sehun held him off as well as they could, although Chanyeol would rather be up there with Kyungsoo, keeping him away from the town line, but leaving Sehun alone with Jongdae was just as bad. It was frustrating and exhausting, the way nothing was going according to plan, adding new variables to an equation he didn’t know existed.

Chanyeol panted, shielding Sehun behind him as Jongdae stepped toward them, fingers outstretched to strike at any moment. He was twirling a long strand of electricity around his body like a gymnastic ribbon, and it would almost look as beautiful if it weren’t for the annoying smirk on his lips and the evil glow of his eyes.

“Jongin, let go!”

Chanyeol’s concentration was broken immediately.

Was that Baekhyun?

He took a single second to glance behind him, his eyes locking onto Jongin and Baekhyun fighting on the floor, screaming at each other as they rolled in the grass.

The crackle of electricity drew his attention back to Jongdae, the smirk on Jongdae’s lips turning into a wicked grin as he switched target, the lightning immediately shooting off toward–

“Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun looked up at the sound of Chanyeol’s voice. He pushed Jongin away from him and stood, drawing Jongdae’s electricity toward him to ground it like a lightning rod. His body glowed slightly from the aftermath.

He took a single confused glance toward Chanyeol before turning back to Jongdae.

Jongdae sped away from Chanyeol, shooting lightning at Baekhyun, who absorbed most of it, sending it back in the form of his own glowing arrows. Baekhyun glided along with a determined crease of his brow, focusing hard so he would not overcharge or even simply slip, either of which could easily be fatal.

“Park!” Chanyeol glanced up from the two and dropped to the floor, barely missing a swipe from Kyungsoo’s sword. He quickly jumped up to counter the strike, but Kyungsoo was already far ahead, calling Jongdae away from Baekhyun as they rushed into town after the androids.

“Sehun, Jongin!” Chanyeol shouted, waving his hand toward the town, telling them to chase after them, while he ran off toward Baekhyun.

“What’s going on?” Baekhyun asked, his glow fading as he let the excess energy drain from his system.

“What are you doing here?!” Chanyeol shouted, running over to his side.

“Trying to help – why did Jongin just try to leave me behind at home?”

Chanyeol screamed as the rain streamed down his face, holding Baekhyun’s face in his hands. “I’m trying to protect you, why won’t you listen to me?!”

“Protect me from what?” Baekhyun shouted back, and Chanyeol couldn’t tell whether it was confusion or betrayal in his eyes. “Why are you fighting alone?!”

“Can’t you just trust me and stay out of harm’s way?”

Baekhyun shook his head and pushed Chanyeol away. “No!” he responded with a frown. “We’re a team; I’m not leaving you alone.”

Chanyeol grappled for words, searching for a way to convey that that wasn’t the current issue at hand, but Baekhyun’s eyes narrowed with a hint of disappointment and something else as he slapped his hand away to cut him off.

“They’re heading in toward town; let’s go before you mess this up.” And then he was gone with a flash, leaving Chanyeol behind to stare, and a disgruntled noise escaped his lips just shy of a tantrum before he followed Baekhyun in toward the town.

The outskirts of town were in screaming chaos, from Jongin helping evacuate people as Sehun attacked the androids in bunches to decrease their numbers, but it all looked so futile when there were so many of them and so little time to finish.

Chanyeol joined Sehun’s side to help in the effort after looking around for anyone else, but there was no sight of Kyungsoo, Jongdae, or Baekhyun.

He stood his ground and pushed the androids back with a large wall of fire to buy Jongin time as he moved further in toward the city. They sparked in protest, but that electricity could only hold out for so long before their resistance would crash and they’d burn.

A crash from behind indicated that Baekhyun and Jongdae had come, along with the lights of the nearby houses flickering as they fought, lightning catching trees, lighting them up with flames as they fell down. When they were close enough, Chanyeol took a hand away from the androids to aim at Jongdae before Baekhyun shouted back at him to do his own job. He should have known better than to interfere. If Kyungsoo was Chanyeol’s nemesis, then Jongdae was Baekhyun’s.

Chanyeol cursed as he turned his attention away from Baekhyun. This isn’t what he wanted at all.

Their battle continued, yet Chanyeol was just standing around, glancing back every so often and wishing for the best. With a growl of frustration, Chanyeol pushed back against the androids, his flames growing stronger and hotter as he burned through the rows of silver, begging to just get this over with so he could help out his husband already, instead of standing here, shuddering at every deafening clap of thunder, able to do nothing but hope that Baekhyun was okay. Jongdae’s laugh diverted Chanyeol’s attention once again toward them, the crook of his arm tight around Baekhyun’s neck, streams of blood dripping from his hairline, with that deranged smile on his lips, and the swirl of the thick clouds overhead and the crackle of lightning in the air made the unease thicken in Chanyeol’s stomach.

Sehun finally let out a groan, nudging Chanyeol’s side, telling him to stop being distracted and go help Baekhyun out already, and after two quick confirmations and a short apology, Chanyeol turned away, not even giving the time to thank Sehun as he ran off, his thoughts screaming in discord, the pounding in his ears getting louder as his muscles burned, watching Baekhyun fight in Jongdae’s arms until he paused to shout.

“Chanyeol!”

Chanyeol leapt forward to save him with a scream of his name.

“Baekhyu–”

He couldn’t even finish the name before he felt a hard thwack of metal against the back of his head. He fell to the floor, instantly unconscious, with only the sound of Baekhyun’s scream ringing in his ears before it faded to black.

Chanyeol awoke with a jolt to the scent of dirt and a sharp pain in his wrists. Cold metal cuffs digging into his skin, biting like the ivory teeth of guard dogs gnawing at his arms and ankles.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the dim light, scanning through the darkness, looking for anything that indicated where he could possibly be.

Where was this?

He was restrained, bound to a pillar by chains in the center a large earthy cave, carved by something much more skilled than the natural processes of the earth. Cages of a dark metal lined the walls, and small torches overhead slightly illuminated the area. Chanyeol curled his fingers as he shook in the chains, trying to escape, until he found that he couldn’t create a single flame. His fingers sparked like a dead battery despite his efforts, and he looked up toward the torches, trying to manipulate their flame, as he seemed too weak to create it himself. He couldn’t.

For the first time in his life, he felt normal, powerless, and now he and Baekhyun were going to die because of it.

Where was Baekhyun in all of this? Chanyeol’s eyes scanned the dim cave, his eyes still adjusting to the lack of light. He saw mounds of dirt and gravel scattered across the floor, cages and weapons lined on the walls, katanas and maces gleaming, and across the room hung Baekhyun, suspended by chains as well.

The air seemed forced out of his lungs. “Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun glanced up at the sound of his name, a dark bruise beneath his left eye, his bottom lip bloodied, his suit torn in multiple places. “Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol paled. “Don’t– don’t worry,” he stuttered, struggling in his chains, “I’ll get you out of here I’ll… I’ll save you; you’ll be okay.”

“Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said, his eyes sympathetic and confused, small tongue at his bottom lip before he let out a soft whisper. “You’re very distracted today.”

Chanyeol stopped moving to stare back at him, about to speak when he was interrupted by a slam in the distance.

“I hear the lovebirds are awake and singing~” The voice of Kyungsoo got louder as he approached along with the sound of gravel shifting beneath his feet. “And I hate bird’s annoying songs.”

Chanyeol struggled in the chains as Kyungsoo came into view, laughing. “Wiggle all you want. Like a worm on a fishing hook.”

Baekhyun sagged in his chains, looking tired and weary. Kyungsoo smiled, nudging his head toward Baekhyun. “He already tried. Like bait,” he muttered as Baekhyun winced, before he began walking back toward Chanyeol. “To lure in a full course meal.” As Chanyeol struggled once more, sparks sputtering from his fingertips, Kyungsoo laughed. “Don’t even try to break the chains,” he muttered, “I made them just for you. A titanium alloy that keeps you two from using your power. What if the city got a hold of this?” he asked. “Do you think they’d still need you to be their little superheros then? When you're locked up and powerless?”

Kyungsoo drew a knife as he walked over toward Chanyeol, stopping directly in front of him with a smile as he watched Chanyeol stop struggling, though the malice burned in his eyes like gasoline. “How should I do this?” Kyungsoo sighed with a short, curt laugh. “Mother always told me not to play with my food, but oh…” he chuckled as he pressed the tip of the knife into Chanyeol’s cheek and slowly dragged it down his face, his upper lip as a bead of blood rolled down the knife, “...how can I resist?”

“Kyungsoo, let him go!” Baekhyun shouted from across the room. Kyungsoo withdrew the knife from Chanyeol’s face to turn toward toward him. He sauntered toward Baekhyun, and as he paused in front of him, an evil smirk tugged on Kyungsoo’s lips as he grabbed the blonde’s face and latched his lips on to his, and Chanyeol froze as he watched Baekhyun struggle against him.

He bit his bottom lip and pulled away as Baekhyun yelped, before he raised a hand clad in a black leather glove, and it made contact with Baekhyun’s face in a loud slap that resounded throughout the room.

A snarl tugged on his lip. “Shut up.” He let a large fake smile spread across his lips. “I have been waiting much too long for this.” He sighed as he turned away. “You’re a pretty one, but very annoying.”

Chanyeol looked between Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, hanging limply in his chains like a painting of defeat, before letting his sight trail back up to Kyungsoo as he began walking over. “What are we doing here?” Chanyeol asked, “Where are the others?’

“Your little friends disappeared with Jongdae,” Kyungsoo sighed with a shrug, and took another step forward as the gravel shifted loudly underneath his feet. “So I brought you two here instead.”

Chanyeol looked back over to Baekhyun. At least Sehun and Jongin would be fine without him; now his biggest concern was keeping Baekhyun safe.

“It feels so good to have you two locked up at my dispense,” Kyungsoo broke into his thoughts with a low laugh, “Just like you had us locked up for those last 2 years.” His hand wrapped around Chanyeol’s throat and squeezed. “Isn’t it fun to see the tables turned?”

Chanyeol barely managed a snarl. The last time he had seen Kyungsoo and Jongdae was years ago, after a battle that put Chanyeol in Yixing’s care for a week or two while Baekhyun sat at his bedside through it all. Despite the scars, they had come out victorious and had managed to lock them behind the bars of the country’s most secure prison, only to find out that they had escaped a few years later.

Chanyeol hated the story. It could have been so simple to prevent something as terrible as Kyungsoo escaping, yet it happened just because they wouldn’t listen to him when he told them to keep Kyungsoo far away from any type of metal, and out of any cell he could manipulate. The warden got a little lazy with Chanyeol’s orders, figuring that because he hadn’t escaped from previous cells, moving his containment to an equally secure one, yet one that contained small parts of steel and titanium, for a limited amount of time due to recent demand wouldn’t be an issue, until they found a tunnel between his and Jongdae’s cell, and a large hole through the back wall of it, just to make a point.

And now Chanyeol was caught in chains of his own, standing here like one of Kyungsoo’s trophies on a pedestal – a token of his own defeat.

“I still believe my escape was my best stunt yet, don't you think?” Kyungsoo asked, releasing Chanyeol’s throat with a large smile. “Now let’s go out with a bang. My next best stunt will be the death of Park Chanyeol and Byun Baekhyun, and the utter annihilation of this poor little city.” He turned sharply on his heels and pointedly glanced over at Chanyeol with a large smile, like this was a circus and he was an entertainer, turning their demise into a show for his own enjoyment. “Sounds exciting, right?”

When Chanyeol didn’t give any response, Kyungsoo laughed and held Chanyeol’s face, squishing his cheeks with his fingers. “I've never been a villain to monologue, but seeing you in chains like this makes it too tempting. You make it so appealing when you're exposed and defenseless.” With his other hand, Kyungsoo drew his sword and Chanyeol squeezed his eyes closed. “How should I kill you? I’ll let you decide. A knife to the heart? Clean swipe of my sabre across your neck?”

“Kyungsoo!”

Baekhyun’s voice echoed through the quiet room.

“Fight me!”

Chanyeol’s eyes shot open, and Kyungsoo slowly turned to face the small blonde. “Do what?”

“Fight me, kill me instead, just don’t touch my husband!”

Furious, Chanyeol screamed back. “Stay out of this Baekhyun–”

“No!” Baekhyun squealed, shaking his chains. “Why don’t I get a say in this? I want to protect you! Kyungsoo, fight me!”

Chanyeol shook his head. No. No, not right now; not when he had a chance to change it, Baekhyun please. “Baekhyun, you can’t do this alone – we’re a team, remember?”

Baekhyun smiled miserably. “Then let me attempt to save you.”

“Everyone’s so excited to die,” Kyungsoo cut in with a loud laugh, sheathing his sword as he looked back toward Chanyeol. “But you two tire me.” He frowned and drew a knife from a pouch. “You are a so-called ‘hero’ without many weaknesses, Park, aside from the fact that you’re mortal. You don’t have much to lose aside from your life. But if I’ve learned anything about you in the past few years, there’s only one thing that you value more than that,” he finished, turning to aim at Baekhyun.

Chanyeol screamed. “No!”

Kyungsoo paused, glancing over his shoulder. “No what?”

“Don’t– I– Don’t touch him! I’ll do anything – anything you want; just leave him alone.”

“Hmm?” Kyungsoo lowered his weapon to turn and face Chanyeol. “Anything?”

“Yes, anything, if you’ll leave him unharmed.”

Kyungsoo smiled, the gleam in his eyes brightening. “You versus me, Park.”

“I’ve beaten you before; I can do it again.” Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed. “That’s what you want, right? Fair and square.”

Kyungsoo hummed with a smile on his lips. “But instead, let’s make a deal. Winner gets Baekhyun. If you give in early, maybe I’ll let you walk away with your life, but without him.”

“I’m not betting my husband,” Chanyeol snarled back.

“Then no deal,” Kyungsoo replied simply, already figuring what Chanyeol in this battle of his life versus his husband. “Okay then,” he shrugged, spinning on his heels as the metal bracelets around his wrists fused into a long, gleaming knife, drawing the breath from Chanyeol’s lungs as Kyungsoo took aim toward Baekhyun. He could hear the smirk in his voice. “You can watch him die instead.”

Baekhyun shouted. “Chanyeol!”

“Stop!” Chanyeol shouted as Kyungsoo threw his weapon, and the knife struck the wall directly next to Baekhyun’s ear. Chanyeol relaxed slightly in his chains.

“Whoops,” Kyungsoo giggled, “you startled me, so my aim was off,” he muttered, glaring at his mark before turning back to Chanyeol. “Tell me you made me miss for a reason, Park. What would you like from me?”

“Fine,” Chanyeol panted. “Fine, deal, whatever, just don’t touch Baekhyun, please don’t touch him.”

A large smile spread across Kyungsoo’s thick lips.

“What are you doing, Chanyeol, don’t take this fight alone!” Baekhyun shouted again, the chains loudly clattering against each other as he struggled against the wall. “Don’t be a coward, Kyungsoo, fight me!”

Kyungsoo held up his hand behind him to silence Baekhyun. “The deal has been made,” he said with a devious grin, drawing his sabre from its sheath, “and the game has begun.”

With a dextrous swipe of his sword through the chains, Chanyeol dropped to the floor, immediately revitalized by the prickle of his flame returning to his fingertips and surging through his veins, rage igniting with a spark. The room lit up like a firework, and Chanyeol burst through the flames, though his attacks were dissipated by Kyungsoo’s sword.

Sweltering heat consumed them, but Chanyeol shook it off, still itching to burn something. His fingers leaked with flame, but his messy attacks were barely useful, sending extra energy and sparks flitting throughout the room as fire surrounded them in waves. Kyungsoo didn’t attack. Anything at this range left him open, and both of them knew this. They were getting nowhere like this. Chanyeol stepped back to create space between them and regain his breath, his eyes serious and angry, in contrast with Kyungsoo’s, sparkling with amusement.

“Don’t be so hasty, Park,” Kyungsoo chided him with a knowing smile. “We have all the time in the world.”

Chanyeol let out a low growl and attacked again, ignoring the sound of his husband shouting his name as he watched with wide, concerned eyes. Chanyeol’s fire only made the gleam of Kyungsoo’s sword brighter, as the ground rumbled underneath his feet. The swordsman finally advanced, pushing Chanyeol back as he avoided every swing, looking for an opening. He didn’t need physical contact – just enough time and space to burn him.

They were fast, like blurs in the night, from streaks of Chanyeol’s flame cutting through the darkness to large bursts of angry fire like a tsunami seeking destruction. Most of the heat didn’t bother Kyungsoo, though some singed his clothing, burning his skin. Not enough to sway him. A swing of Kyungsoo’s sword barely grazed Chanyeol’s arm, which served as a good distraction for the swordsman catch him off guard with his fist. Shards of rock and metal crunched against Chanyeol’s face and sent him thudding against the ground. Quickly recovering, Chanyeol swept an arc of fire at Kyungsoo’s feet to make him jump back.

“Come come,” Kyungsoo teased, flipping his dark hair back with a cocky grin, “how will you protect your husband like that?”

Chanyeol made his way to his feet, eyes narrowed in annoyance. He swiped at his bloodied lip with his wrist, glaring at Kyungsoo relaxed stance, although his hand remained tight around the sabre’s hilt, beautifully exposed as if to taunt him.

Chanyeol winced as he took a step back, his head clouded and dizzy from blood loss and worry. He clutched his wounded arm and reminded himself what he was doing this for.

Because it truly seemed like there was nothing worse than sitting there helplessly as you watched the man you loved die for you.

He attacked again.

His muscles were tense, his vision blurry, his feet unstable, his flame uncontrollable. Chanyeol could feel Kyungsoo’s sword slice through the air in front of his face. He lashed out blindly. His fist connected with Kyungsoo’s toned chest,  the sharp pain of his sword cutting into his arm. They both paused for half a second before re-engaging in attacks and parries, swings and fire, and Chanyeol was overheated and too wounded, and another swipe from Kyungsoo’s sword at Chanyeol's ankle made him stagger backward and fall.

The metallic taste of blood had become overwhelming as he lay on the floor, trying to get up as he listened to the sounds of Kyungsoo approaching. The crunch of dirt and gravel. A low laugh. “Too easy, too easy,” Kyungsoo muttered as he raised his sword to strike, until the path of the sword stopped by a quick beam of light.

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol gasped at the small, blonde figure between them, glowing as he kicked Kyungsoo away from him with a shout and a burst of light to send him flying through the air. Baekhyun stood there, panting, foot poised in the air, constrains still clasped around his wrists, yet the chains were broken and singed at the ends as they clattered by his sides, light still sizzling in soft, dying sparks around the metal. Baekhyun set his foot down as he turned halfway toward Chanyeol.

“We are a team, goddammit!” Baekhyun screamed, his face flushed a bright red with anger, his eyes glowing a menacing white. “So let’s ing act like one!”

Chanyeol couldn't reply, with his eyes focused on the sword of light in his hands that had miraculously stopped Kyungsoo. The makeshift hilt was the base of the knife Kyungsoo had thrown at him earlier, barely long enough for Baekhyun to wrap his hands around, but the blade was made of a bright, buzzing light that extended far past the metal. A lightsaber.

Baekhyun paused, a few pants escaping his lips before a tired, teasing smile tugging upward on his lips. “You're hella sloppy today.”

And it was then that he realized it. Somewhere in the middle of trying to protect him, he hadn’t noticed he had almost lost him.

Chanyeol gave a slow nod, and Baekhyun accepted it with his familiar proud smile, and then turned back to Kyungsoo.

Kyungsoo sat up slowly, massaging his jaw. “Did you break my metal?” he asked, his voice deep with annoyance as he articulated each syllable.

Despite his harsh breaths, Baekhyun barely managed a smirk, lit by the glow of his lightsaber. “Perhaps I did.”

Kyungsoo stood upright, carefully eyeing the sword of light in Baekhyun’s hands. “That’s new.”

“I’m a man of many tricks,” Baekhyun responded simply, but the glare he was giving him was anything but playful. “Now are we just going to stand around and talk all day? Because I’m pretty sure I’ll win that one.”

Kyungsoo’s grip tightened around his own sword. “Don’t be so cocky, rat.”

There was a shout. A slash of light and the warp of sound around it, diffused by the loud clang of metal against metal, then another, and another, until they were too fast to see, a blur of light and silver, the sounds indistinguishable, and then Kyungsoo’s sabre was flying through the air in two pieces.

Baekhyun gave him no time to admire his skill, immediately swinging his lightsaber. Kyungsoo ducked to avoid it, and instantly tugged at the gravel underfoot to throw Baekhyun off his balance. Baekhyun let out a yelp as Kyungsoo grasped the loose edges of the chains around his wrists, tugged him downward, and his knee into his abdomen. The chains melted from around Baekhyun’s wrists and warped into a small knife. Clutching his stomach, Baekhyun jumped back from the range of his weapon before it could strike, but when he looked up to retaliate, Kyungsoo was already running off. Baekhyun chased after the man clad in black, who slid across the floor to retrieve the pieces of his sword, and immediately fused them back together into a thick, dense pole to block the incoming blow of the lightsaber.

Baekhyun’s face was livid in the dark, highlighted by the pale yellow glow of his light sword. He was panting heavily. It was more than obvious that all of this was draining him.

Kyungsoo noticed it too. “You’re pretty good with that thing for never having used it before.”

Baekhyun let out a short laugh, the creases never leaving his forehead as the light of his sword flickered, sending bright sparks skittering across the metal pole. “You’d have no idea how much practice I’ve had with fake lightsabers.”

They were thrown apart from each other in the next second, and Chanyeol finally found the strength to stand, snapping out of his daze as he watched the two. Kyungsoo was fast, but Baekhyun was faster, using his light to his advantage with each clash of their weapons, although their fighting styles were incredibly different. Kyungsoo was a trained master of many different arts, but Baekhyun, who had learned his sword skills off western movies and anime, was keeping up surprisingly well. Yet this was never truly his style, as he seemed much more comfortable with a bow or with his fists, and though he’d prefer a variety of kicks, it was never good to get too close to Kyungsoo. Chanyeol watched their exchange, too fast for his eyes to keep up, yet he was determined to join, trying to calm the prickle of his flame at his fingertips, but held back as he tried to find any way to interfere without accidentally burning Baekhyun.

Baekhyun paused to catch his breath as the cave began to shake, while Kyungsoo smiled, waved, and ran off. Baekhyun looked around as the ground trembled and small shards of rock began falling from the ceiling, before he shot a quick glance back to Chanyeol, running over to grab his wrist and drag him behind him as they followed Kyungsoo out of the crumbling room.

Kyungsoo was making the entire cave collapse.

Chanyeol followed after Baekhyun, who was leading with his light sword, cutting through the shards of large rock that were falling from the ceiling or that Kyungsoo was throwing behind at him with a shout, standing his ground to protect Chanyeol. They coughed in the smoke as they ran along the winding trail after Kyungsoo, cutting through rocks with light and flame until they exited the cave, entering a wide room full of thick smoke and dust from the broken rock.

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s wrist, his hand hot against Baekhyun’s pale skin, and he glanced over toward him with a look that said Don’t do anything dumb.

Baekhyun gave him a fearless smile back. No promises.

And Kyungsoo burst through the smoke with an enraged shout, standing between them, holding two thin, curved broad swords: one pointed in Baekhyun’s direction, the other, in Chanyeol’s. As he looked between the two, a slow, tired smile spread across Kyungsoo’s lips. “Somehow, this has become disadvantageous to me.”

“Then give it up, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun shouted. “We've got you surrounded.”

Kyungsoo closed his eyes with a sigh. “This was supposed to be one-on-one, but you guys are bending the rules.” He shot Chanyeol a glare like molten lava. “And I don't like cheaters.”

He rushed off toward Baekhyun again, who stumbled backward, finding it much harder to keep up with both of Kyungsoo’s swords, but he held him off well enough for Chanyeol to attack from behind, but Kyungsoo saw it coming and turned to block Chanyeol, dispelling the attack into mere wisps of flame.

Kyungsoo’s eyes were livid, barely able to keep their glow under control as he held the two off, dodging and blocking more so than attacking. He seemed frustrated, caught off guard to the point that he lost a sword, and the way they were pushing him back made Chanyeol believe that together, perhaps they could do this. But it was odd, he figured, the way Kyungsoo was fighting when he knew he couldn't win, but Chanyeol was too caught up in the rush and adrenaline of fighting alongside Baekhyun to figure out what was going on, or to notice that Kyungsoo thought he had the situation under control. Perhaps he was stalling for something. Either way, they were running out of time.

And in Chanyeol’s slight moment of hesitation, Kyungsoo subdued Baekhyun with a swift kick that knocked the air out of him, and suddenly there was a hand around his throat. His lightsaber clattered to the floor and immediately went out.

"Stop!" Kyungsoo shouted, turning to Chanyeol as he held up his remaining sword. "Stop. Don't move. Or I'll kill him."

Chanyeol’s fire immediately went out in fear of burning his husband, and he froze at the image of Baekhyun clawing furiously at Kyungsoo’s gloved hand, his resolve weakening as Kyungsoo’s fingers dug into his neck.

Kyungsoo watched Chanyeol with a chuckle. His voice was deep as he twirled his remaining sword and pointed it at Chanyeol while his other hand tightened around Baekhyun’s neck, drawing a squeal out of his lips. “Down.”

Chanyeol flashed back to weeks ago, seeing things he only saw in his dreams, forced to watch Baekhyun struggle in Jongdae’s hands just a few seconds before his death–

Paralyzed at the thought of a repeat of exactly what he was trying to avoid, Chanyeol slowly dropped to a knee, bowing his head despite Baekhyun shouting at him to stop – “Chanyeol, no, get up and fight!” – but this time, he wouldn’t listen.

Kyungsoo chuckled, his grip slightly loosening on Baekhyun’s neck to lift his foot and drop his heel onto the back of Chanyeol’s head, slamming his face into the hardwood floor and shards of broken stone and loose dirt. “If you’re going to kneel, go all out.”

Chanyeol’s body seized in pain, fingers twitching against the small stones, but he remained still and submissive, his face down to appease Kyungsoo for these few seconds.

“I must ask,” Kyungsoo mumbled, looking to the light wielder in his grasp, “why are you trying so hard for him? For this pathetic town?”

Baekhyun’s voice was strained as he spoke. “I have something I love. Something to protect.”

Kyungsoo frowned. “What’s the point of protecting something that gives you nothing in return? They treat us like weapons. We’re rare, but were dispensable to them. They're scared of us so they use us instead – they don't care about us or our wellbeing as long as we're not on opposite teams.”

“I’m trying to change that.”

“It won’t happen,” Kyungsoo responded solemnly. “They fear what they don’t understand. And Chanyeol…” Kyungsoo turned to him with a frown. “He’s weak. He can’t protect you. He can’t even save you from himself. Or his flame. He was built to destroy, and you’ll just get caught up in it.” Chanyeol’s body stiffened. A smirk appeared on Kyungsoo’s lips with a soft hum as Baekhyun began to glow in anger. “What if you leave him and join me, perhaps I’ll spare you.”

Chanyeol didn’t raise his head from the ground as Baekhyun responded, voice too weak to make out anything other than a low “Never.”

“Well in that case…” Kyungsoo sighed, and then there was a loud squeal and a thud from the other side of the room as Baekhyun collided with the wall. “This is a fight between me and him; now stay the out of it.”

“Baekhyun!” Chanyeol called, immediately looking up toward Baekhyun’s direction.

“I’m okay!” Baekhyun shouted, coughing as he struggled underneath a pile of rubble that had collapsed onto him.

Chanyeol was barely able to get in a sigh of relief before Kyungsoo was in front of him, and Chanyeol dropped to the ground to avoid a low sweep of Kyungsoo’s sword. He hastily retaliated by swiping at the swordsman’s feet with flame, which made Kyungsoo jump back.

Chanyeol quickly regained his stance, his fists engulfed in fire as he ran toward Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo's metals melted around his fingers into a pair of brass knuckles to engage in a heated exchange of attacks, but Kyungsoo seemed much more confident, and Chanyeol was already so fatigued, it was hard to keep up. A step aside, aim. Move. Drop. Low sweep kick. Regain his balance, look for an opening to strike. But he wasn’t near a match to Kyungsoo’s speed, barely able to counter or even see where he was attacking from anymore, until Kyungsoo sidestepped a burst of flame to sink a punch into Chanyeol’s abdomen. Chanyeol staggered back as his body seized in pain, and he kneeled to regain his breath.

Chanyeol closed his eyes with a deep growl, frustrated because he couldn’t figure out how Kyungsoo seemed to know everything that he was going to do before he did it. He shook his head with a low groan as Baekhyun shouted at him from across the room.

“That's why you're weak, Park,” Kyungsoo laughed breathlessly, slowly approaching. “All he does is get in the way.”

No. No, Baekhyun wasn't a hindrance. He wasn’t a weakness. He was his strength. Baekhyun was the reason he couldn't lose.

Chanyeol took a deep breath and opened his eyes. He looked toward Baekhyun, where his husband was still struggling against the wall, angry sparks of light shooting off his body. Chanyeol let a tired smile grace his lips as he whispered, “Thank you,” and found his way back to his feet.

This is my fight, Baekhyun. Please stay safe without me.

Chanyeol forced himself to drown out the sound of his husband screaming at him from across the room, took one last deep breath, and ran ahead with a shout.

If you promise that you’ll live…

Kyungsoo responded with a shout of his own, metals forming into a rapier as he rushed forward to fight Chanyeol off.

… and don’t forget me…

Walls of fire. The slice of a sword through air. His flame alone was difficult to control when rage was flooding from his soul, spilling heat and destruction everywhere, but Kyungsoo managed to maneuver it expertly, almost as though he was predicting it, retaliating with light surface cuts to Chanyeol’s skin, like he was toying with him until he got bored.

Let me protect you…

Chanyeol was fighting with fire and his fists, and Kyungsoo, with weapons, and it seemed so counterintuitive, but he couldn’t stop yet. Kyungsoo was above, and then he was below. In front. Then behind. He was next to Chanyeol’s side, slicing through Chanyeol’s shirt and his skin, clipping his waist as Chanyeol jumped back. He held his hand to his side, gasping as Kyungsoo wiped at a smudge of dirt on his face, the infuriating smirk of his lips still visible despite the burns and the pain. Chanyeol’s eyes glowed with a dark red as his flame sparked from his fists. He screamed and rushed at him again.

Kyungsoo was fast, each swing of his sword timed perfectly with Chanyeol like a dance to the tune of his death, both of them waiting for a mistake, a slip, an opening to strike. Baekhyun’s screaming had faded into background noise along with the pounding of his heartbeat and the ringing in his ears, until the look in Kyungsoo's eyes changed as if he was finally getting serious. The tricks of his sword got more advanced, harder to predict, harder to avoid. The cuts got deeper, Chanyeol’s fire got weaker, and a single, deep slash across Chanyeol’s chest made his flame immediately go out. He staggered backward, trying to catch his breath as Kyungsoo approached, and a strong kick pushed him back against a wall. Chanyeol’s body was screaming in protest, and it was much too difficult to move, much more to get up. In the back of his mind, there was a countdown slowly ticking to zero, and he just hoped he had timed it all right. This was to make up for everything. To make up for messing up the first time. To make up for losing his husband.

He hoped Baekhyun would forgive him.

He sat back, panting as he slumped against the wall, and gave Baekhyun a last silent goodbye as he finally let his eyes close when Kyungsoo approached, dragging the tip of his rapier in the stones as the smirk on his face grew. He paused in front of Chanyeol and raised his sword.

“It’s pathetic, really.”

Let me die for you.

Chanyeol felt pain, like a heavy weight had settled atop his chest, but no burning, searing pain any greater than before. Perhaps Kyungsoo missed, which, Chanyeol noted duly, would be impossible and anticlimactic as , but perhaps his mind was cracking dumb jokes simply because he couldn’t believe that he was still alive.

But then he felt the single drop of something thicker than water drop onto his cheek. Was it… blood? It slowly ran down the curve of his jawline as he opened his eyes, vision dark and blurry as he watched the red droplet fall to the floor. He tried to lift a hand to inspect himself, expecting a gash in his forehead from some barrage of rocks or something of Kyungsoo’s doing, but the sound of soft panting from above made Chanyeol to lift his eyes to the sight casting a shadow over him.

And standing above him was his husband, with a weak smile on his lips that dripped with a thin stream of blood, and the tip of a sword piercing through his torso.

“…H-hi.”

Zero.

“Baekhyun–”

The name escaped Chanyeol’s lips in a disbelieving gasp, and Baekhyun fell forward into Chanyeol’s arms as Kyungsoo pulled the sword back from his chest, and sound returned to Chanyeol’s world with a loud ringing in his ears. Kyungsoo cackled loudly, drunk with power and elation as Chanyeol stared wide-eyed down to Baekhyun as he slid out of his arms and to the floor.

No. No no no…

With a distressed cry, Chanyeol fought against the pain searing in his muscles to crawl forward, turn Baekhyun over, and lift him from the floor, electric sparks buzzing around the hole in his chest, his body leaking light as it tried to heal the fixture. He was hot from the overuse of his powers, his face deathly pale, and multiple parts of his porcelain skin bruising or scratched. His body was heavy, weak, and lifeless as he lay in Chanyeol’s arms.

His husband was dying in his arms.

Dying.

Baekhyun was…

“Ah well,” Kyungsoo sighed, “I wasn’t aiming for him, but I was planning to kill both of you anyway.” He gave a sigh. “Well there goes our prize.”

…Dying.

Kyungsoo walked up to them slowly and placed his blade still dripping with Baekhyun’s blood under Chanyeol’s chin, raising his face to his. “Now that your husband is dying, what should I do to you?”

Chanyeol’s eyes slowly left Baekhyun’s body to glare up to Kyungsoo. He raised a hand and grasped the blade, cutting into his palm, and he slowly began to stand as blood dripped down the tip of the sword. The metal began to bend in his grasp, and Kyungsoo stepped back in dim bewilderment, but before he could warp the metal into something more useful, Chanyeol threw him against the wall, snapping the sword in half.

Despite the pain burning in his muscles, his body igniting like a kerosene soaked rope exposed to open flame, Chanyeol stood, like a newly born demon full of overwhelming power with no idea how to control it, and his red eyes locked onto his target with a determination to kill. As he walked toward Kyungsoo, he left bright orange flames behind in his wake that spread across the floor until the room was engulfed in fire. Kyungsoo shuffled on the floor, backing up until he hit the wall, turning the remaining metal at his side into knives as he threw them at Chanyeol, although few barely grazed his cheek or his arm, and the ones that stuck his thighs, he pulled out and dropped to the floor behind him. Blood dripped down his face in thin streams, but nothing stopped him from approaching his husband’s murderer.

Sparks flew from his fingertips as he curled his fists, and Kyungsoo adjusted on the floor eyes wide in fear as he spewed fake threats and fake apologies. He grabbed Kyungsoo’s shirt, lifting him off the ground, and Kyungsoo cringed and squirmed in Chanyeol’s grasp as flames at his clothing.

Chanyeol’s eyes were wide and full of hatred as he stood above Kyungsoo with the broken remains of his sword tight in his fist. He slowly raised it above his head as he spoke in a low growl. “Your life ends now.”

But before he could do anything, he was distracted by the weak sound of Baekhyun calling his name.

Kyungsoo took advantage of his lack of attention enough to escape from his grasp, and he dropped back to the floor and staggered up to his feet, smart enough to know when to stop fighting.

Chanyeol just stood there, panting heavily as the fire stole all of the oxygen from the air, watching him stumble away.

With an annoyed groan, he threw the remains of his sword to the ground behind him and watched as Kyungsoo escaped from his sight. He was too weak to chase him, too tired to even try when he knew he wouldn’t get far. The team would find him if he didn’t perish in the flames first. But for now, he had more important things to tend to.

He struggled to regain control of his flame, lest he burn and surrender to it himself. He curled in on himself, trembling as he focused on the sound of Baekhyun’s soft voice, and the flame surging out of control within him seemed to die out immediately as he turned back to where his husband lay on the floor. His walk was like his breathing, slow and labored, every step heavy as he sank into the dirt and the gravel, clutching the wound in his side as he stumbled back over toward Baekhyun, coughing as smoke filled the room.

In the heat of the flames consuming the building, Chanyeol dropped to his knees in front of Baekhyun’s broken body, panting heavily as he sat back on his heels, digging his blunt nails into his thighs and clenching his jaw, hoping he could force himself wake up. It was another nightmare. Just another… nightmare.

Baekhyun shakily raised a hand to cradle his face. “Chanyeol…” he whispered.

“I’m here, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol reached out weakly, catching his hand and squeezing it tightly as though holding on to it could help him hold on to Baekhyun and keep the smaller man from slipping out of his grasp – as though it could stop his world from ending – as though he could stop it from being burned to the ground in front of his eyes.

Yet in spite of it all, Baekhyun gave him another smile. “I love you.”

Chanyeol opened his mouth to repeat the words, but no sound came out. The heat from the flames burned his already parched throat and dried the tears that tried to spill from his eyes as he focused on Baekhyun, lying in his arms, pale against the floor and the shadows that flickered across his body as the flames danced around them in the midst of consuming everything.

“Chanyeol…”

Baekhyun’s voice was soft. Weak. Dying.

“Thank you.”

It wasn’t just another a nightmare.

Chanyeol felt helpless once again as Baekhyun’s eyes closed, his forehead bunched in creases of pain.

Baekhyun was Chanyeol’s strength. Baekhyun was his shield. Baekhyun was his sword. Baekhyun was his armor. Baekhyun was his guidance. Baekhyun was his hope. Baekhyun was his everything.

But what have I ever been to you?

...What will I be without you?

Baekhyun let his eyes crack open after a few seconds of silence to look up to Chanyeol, his eyebrows drawn together in one last attempt to save himself. “Yixing?”

Chanyeol’s hand tightened around Baekhyun’s as he looked down to his desperate husband, but the dull glaze over his eyes asserted that even Baekhyun knew nothing would help him now. Chanyeol slowly leaned forward and brushed a strand of hair away from Baekhyun’s face. He pressed his lips to his forehead and held them there for a few seconds.

Yixing’s not coming this time, Baek.

Chanyeol bit back his emotions, forcing himself to sift through the logical thought floating somewhere in his mind as he pulled away from Baekhyun. He cleared his throat, leaning over Baekhyun’s body to his soiled dress shirt, and Chanyeol bit his lip as he observed the tears in his favorite suit, realizing that this was the last time that he’d ever see him in this suit that he used to love so much. He had saved it for special occasions, and Chanyeol always loved to see him smile and laugh whenever he had the opportunity to wear it. This was the last time they’d get to do anything together, yet their last moments were being spent with Baekhyun lying on the floor in pain, and Chanyeol unable to do anything about it. It was happening again; he was losing him again. Perhaps it was an attempt to console himself, or maybe the beginning of a descent into madness and despair as Chanyeol’s mind flashed through scenes that he could remember seeing Baekhyun in a suit: Baekhyun on their wedding day, Baekhyun nervously preparing for job interviews, Baekhyun in a coffin, Baekhyun laughing and singing on holidays surrounded by family and friends, Baekhyun in a coffin–

“We have to stop you from bleeding,” Chanyeol said quickly, forcing himself to stop thinking as he went back to hastily removing Baekhyun’s shirt. “It… it’s okay – you’ll be alright.”

Baekhyun winced from the touch of Chanyeol’s hands aggravating his wound. “Chanyeol…”

“You’ll be fine, see, if I can just take care of you–”

“No, Chanyeol, just…”

“If you’ll let me take care of you–”

“Chanyeol, please…”

“What?!” Chanyeol shouted, his hands covered in blood – Baekhyun’s blood – and Baekhyun didn't even seem to care that he was bleeding to death on the floor.

Baekhyun’s eyelids fluttered softly, lips slowly curling up into a pained smile as he whispered faintly, “My eyes are up here.”

Chanyeol's body seemed to deflate. “But Baekhyun…”

“Stop… Please.”

“We can still save you–”

“We can’t.” His smile looked too serene stretched across his thin, bloodied lips for him to know that they’d release his last breath soon. “I’m dying, Yeol.”

Chanyeol’s hands trembled at the words. “Please stop saying that…”

“I don’t want my last memory of your handsome face looking so distressed,” Baekhyun said as he softly brushed his fingers against Chanyeol’s jawline. His touch was cold against Chanyeol’s warm skin, and Chanyeol caught his hand to hold it there, as though he could keep his touch, spread warmth and light through his fingers again. “You’re not cute when you’re holding back tears.”

Chanyeol grasped for words as Baekhyun’s hand slipped away from his face and out of Chanyeol’s hand, and he reached out to catch it. Baekhyun relaxed back against the floor, wincing a slightly and closing his eyes to keep Chanyeol from noticing.

Chanyeol coughed as the smoke filled his lungs and his eyes, and the insufferable heat was beginning to make him sweat, but he stayed in his spot, rubbing his thumb across Baekhyun’s knuckles as if it would provide him any amount of comfort, though he didn't know what comfort that could bring to someone who was slowly losing their life while they were both just sitting around watching. He finally spoke up.

“I’ll stay by your side until you take your last breath.”

Baekhyun let out a long, harsh breath. “Don’t do that to yourself.”

“I’m not leaving you behind.”

There was a pause for Baekhyun to take another difficult breath. “The building… will collapse.”

“Let it collapse on top of both of us; I’m not leaving your side.”

“Yeol…”

“Should I pick you up and try to carry you out of here with me? What am I supposed to do?! I’m not going to leave you, Baekhyun!”

Baekhyun shot a narrow glare up to him, dull eyes flickering as he silenced him immediately with a weak squeeze of his hand.

“You should promise me you’ll live.” Chanyeol opened his mouth to respond, but Baekhyun interrupted with a fit of coughs, and he spoke again, his voice hoarse as he squeezed his eyes closed. “Don’t let me go for nothing.”

And Chanyeol could do nothing but watch in anguish because Baekhyun was dying for him. Because of him. Again.

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t…” His voice hitched. “I don’t want to let you go at all…”

Baekhyun’s voice was merely a soft, repentant whisper. “I’m sorry.”

Chanyeol squeezed Baekhyun’s hand tighter and sparks escaped from his fingertips. “I told you not to do anything dumb – why would you do this when all I’ve been trying to do is keep you safe?”

Baekhyun’s closed eyes looked almost peaceful as he whispered, “I wanted to be your hero one last time.” Chanyeol’s grip loosened on his hand as he stared down to his husband’s softly glowing face. A soft breath escaped Baekhyun’s lips. “You knew this was coming, didn’t you? You tried to stop me.” His smile looked so sincere and soft but broken in a way that tore Chanyeol’s soul to shreds. “I guess I failed then, huh?”

“No,” Chanyeol breathed out and shook his head quickly. “It’s not…” He clenched his jaw and looked down to the floor. It’s not your fault. Perhaps I failed, instead.

Baekhyun let his eyes open slightly, irises glowing an iridescent white as his light sparked within them. However it wasn’t anger or rage in his eyes. It was anguish. It was suffering. It was heartbreak.

Because I did it wrong the first time.

Baekhyun glanced away with a sigh, and Chanyeol could hear Baekhyun’s voice from years ago mingling with the rough, pained voice of the current Baekhyun as he spoke.

“You unintentionally... burn the things you love... when you’re trying to save them…”

His eyes closed, lips forming a soft smile.

“Don’t you?”

Chanyeol bit his lip hard enough to draw blood as a single tear finally fell from his eyes, splashing against Baekhyun’s cheek. Then have we always been destined for this after all? Chanyeol shuddered as he lowered his head to his husband’s chest, as if saying a final prayer while listening to Baekhyun’s heart beat begin to slow in his chest. He finally spoke softly, shakily whispering, “I wasn’t supposed to let you go this time.”

I was so selfish, but how am I supposed to watch you die twice?

He wanted nothing more than to pause time, needing just to exist together in the space between life and death, between right and wrong, between happiness and misery. To be the only two people occupying a world where they wouldn’t need to worry about the next day, the next year, the next lifetime because right here, right now, they were in each other’s arms, content and unbroken. Wishing to stay together like this, forever perhaps, and wishing to hold on to him – to his memories – to his smile – to his presence – because if he loosened his grip even just a little, he would lose him.

He was losing him.

The flame in his chest flickered weakly as he watched Baekhyun’s sparks dim, wondering what he would do to be able to exchange his own flame for Baekhyun’s, as if he could breathe any bit of the life that Baekhyun had given him back into Baekhyun, if anything could save them from this.

“Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol looked up from his chest to Baekhyun’s eyes, his voice weak, barely above a whisper as he struggled to voice the words, and he slipped his hand into Baekhyun’s small palm, curling his fingers between his husband’s. “Yes, my love?” What do you need, what do you what? Tell me your desires, let me give you everything, let me give you all of me.

Baekhyun let out a small breath, lightly squeezing Chanyeol’s hand back.

“Call me your Star one last time?”

All of the air escaped Chanyeol’s body in a painful plea. “Baekhyun, please…”

His eyes closed, curving up into the little crescents that had Chanyeol wanting to lean down to kiss the sparkling droplets on the tips of his eyelashes away. One of his crystal tears slowly rolled down his cheek as he spoke.

“I’m gonna Supernova.”

Chanyeol’s voice broke along with the dams holding his tears back. “Don’t, Baekhyun, don’t…”

But his face remained peaceful, like he knew this was coming, like he couldn’t stop even if he wanted to, his trembling fingers already becoming warm with uncontrollable power saying ‘It’s too late to stop me anyway.’

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Baekhyun, I love you, please…”

Chanyeol squeezed Baekhyun’s hand tighter, unsure if the droplets of water on Baekhyun’s porcelain skin were Baekhyun’s tears or his own.

Baekhyun’s lips moved slightly, but his voice was too weak to make the sounds. ‘Please run.’

This was no more late nights cuddling, or early morning kisses.

This was no more races through the midnight streets, leaving streaks of light throughout the sky and drawing patterns amidst the stars.

This was no more kisses that tasted of sweet, French vanilla creamers and frothy coffee, or evenings of light filled rooms, dancing patterns, harmonious colors, tangling legs, smooth lips, delicious scents.

This was no more dancing in the air to the music of their souls, or spontaneous food fights in the kitchen.

Back to empty beds, cold sheets, lonely days.

Misery. Anguish. Silence.

Withered lilies.

Please don’t.

Baekhyun’s expression softened, his soft pink lips turning up into a small, peaceful smile as his pale body began to glow from the build up of light underneath his skin with nowhere to escape.

Don’t, Baekhyun, please don’t…

Chanyeol curled over the small man, holding his head up to cradle him against his chest as Baekhyun’s skin glowed a soft white, brightening with every passing second, breathing in light and death, taking in all the darkness to perish with it.

It’ll be okay, please stop, just tell me it’ll be okay…

Flames surrounded the two of them, dancing to their miserable tune and engulfing them in the rhythm. Baekhyun’s body lay limp in Chanyeol’s arms, pressed tightly against his body as if he could protect him, though he knew it was useless and hypocritical to attempt to protect him when he was already breaking apart, when his soul was already slipping away into the small balls of light ascending toward the heavens.

I’ll stay here beside you… I’m with you… I’m always with you…

Chanyeol couldn’t tell if he was screaming, if he was crying, if he was silent. All he could hear was white noise, all he could see was white. But he stayed by Baekhyun’s side in the midst of the flames, only hugging him tighter as light began to shine through the cracks in Baekhyun’s once flawless body as though he could hold him together – capture all the pieces and put them back together…

Please… take me with you…

Chanyeol squeezed his eyes closed tighter, although no tears were falling because of the heat consuming the two of them as they lay huddled together in the midst of life and death, hanging on to a string too thin to be hope. Baekhyun’s small body began breaking apart into hot streams of white light that burned Chanyeol’s hands, but he held him closer to him despite the scorching pain because losing Baekhyun – being without Baekhyun – knowing Baekhyun couldn’t return – hurt so much more.

I want to be with you. Forever.

Chanyeol let out a soft breath of air as his senses disintegrated along with Baekhyun in his arms, and he hoped to be swallowed in the effect as everything felt numb – the pain in his hands, aching in his heart, the burden of being left alone again – Chanyeol felt nothing until there was a harsh tug on the back of his shirt, and as he took slight notice of Baekhyun’s limp body slipping from between his arms, the white heat still burning his hands even after their separation, he barely found the strength to open his eyes to the scene of Baekhyun falling away from him in the midst of the bright light. He was falling. They were separating. He was leaving him. Chanyeol reached out for him, grappling at Baekhyun’s clothes, his fingers barely grazing the burning cloth turning to ash at his fingertips, and he hoarsely screamed his name as the flames and the smoke tore at his raw throat and the light burned his eyes, yet he remained focused on him until it all flashed away in a puff of black smoke.

Chanyeol thudded against the ground, tangled in a heap with Jongin as they tumbled on in the mud, whipped by the cold, night air. “Are you okay?” Jongin asked, coughing as Sehun ran over to his side. “It was so hard to find you; I’m glad we weren’t too late–”

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol whimpered weakly as he tried to sit up, his voice cracking in pain as he turned toward the old building consumed in flames. He crawled forward, shuffling along the ground, trying to reach his husband, despite the calls of his name from the others that fell on deaf ears. “Baekhyun!” he shouted, coughing, attempting to stand and stumbling over his feet as he tried to run off toward the building, until a large pillar of white light, as bright and blinding as the sun, shot up to the heavens, pierced through the clouds and engulfed the old building.

He held up an arm to shield his eyes, yet he was unable to tear his eyes away from the sight as light burst through the weak windows that hadn’t already shattered from the flames.

And then it was gone.

Chanyeol’s arm dropped to his side as they were shrouded in darkness once again, a still silence surrounding them aside from the shaky gasps of air escaping Chanyeol’s lips as he stared toward where the building once stood, few charred remains of the foundation still standing, although the rest of it was ashes already swept away in the wind or drowned out by the rain.

No… no, please no…

Chanyeol took a shaky step forward, vision blurring by tears, his breath still hard to catch as the searing pain in his chest returned with a sharp ache, piercing through his heart until everything was enveloped in this pain, and he couldn’t tell anymore if it was from his wounds or something else. He weakly stumbled forward, wobbling with each step until his legs were too weak to hold his body up anymore. He dropped to his knees, each breath of this toxic air harder to breathe in, shuddering, hyperventilating.

A shriek cracked the still, silent air. Chanyeol clawed at the ground, screaming air and fire at the dirt, his body arching along with every cry from his lips, struggling to breathe when it felt like he was asphyxiating in the thick, hazy smog of loss, tragedy, and heartache. Despair. Agony. Rain fell like cold knives, immediately evaporating as they made contact with his skin after leaving their sting on his body, steam rising into the black sky in thin wisps of grey cloud that died out before they could reach the heavens. He screamed, he mourned, he grieved.

He was gone. Baekhyun was gone.

Chanyeol cried out until his lungs screamed with him, coughing and aggravating the wound in his chest, breathlessly repeating the last words he could read on Baekhyun’s lips as he had faded in the white light, until Chanyeol’s vision blurred in fuzzy white spots and he collapsed in the mud, bleeding to death as the others shouted his name and crowded around him.

Thank you.

I love you.

I’m sorry.

---------------

Chanyeol hated the scent of rain.

He hated the scent of it, though Baekhyun used to hold onto Chanyeol’s arm whenever it rained, taking in deep breaths of the the chemicals mixing in the air, and then letting it out with a soft giggle that would bring a smile to Chanyeol’s face.

He hated the taste of it, though Baekhyun used to run outside, holding his mouth open to catch a droplet or two, until Chanyeol would usher him back inside so he wouldn’t get a cold.

He hated the sound of it tapping against his black umbrella and fancy Italian shoes and the small black casket in front of him, though Baekhyun used to play his piano more often with the ambiance of the freshly falling rain in the background because he claimed it’d make it more soothing, or he’d listen to a recorded track of rain on nights he couldn’t fall asleep.

Chanyeol hated the rain because it reminded him of Baekhyun.

It was cold. It was wet. It was miserable.

And as he stood out here in the pouring rain, staring down to his husband’s coffin once again, he couldn’t help but notice that it made him feel empty as well.

It was empty. It was more empty than the first time they held this stupid funeral.

The tapping of the rain on his jacket.

The silence. The tears. The emotions.

The lonely walk to the memorial park and all the missed calls from Sehun throughout the week.

His chest.

It was empty.

From the small crowd of close family and friends that stood behind Chanyeol as he stood above the small picture frame of Baekhyun’s gorgeous smiling face covered in droplets of rain, to the bouquet of wet, drooping lilies in his tightly clenched fist.

From the soulless look in Zhang Yixing’s eyes, to the small black casket in front of him.

It was empty.

He set down the flowers, turned, and left the venue.

Chanyeol could still remember the look on Yixing’s face the first time Baekhyun had asked him to be their doctor if they ever became superheros. It was something between surprise and shock, abhorration and disgust. He had explained that he wasn’t a doctor, and Baekhyun had slapped him on the back and said, “Nope, but you can be!” And now here he was, just a few years later – the best physician in town.

Yixing would always enter their room and sigh as he’d glance over their wounds. “I knew being a doctor for a team of superheros would be difficult, but you two children definitely keep my hands busy.”

Baekhyun used to just smile up to him through his blood-stained teeth, glowing much too brightly for someone in a hospital. Chanyeol couldn’t help but smile too.

But now it was different, sitting in his examination room alone, and the white walls seemed so overbearing and bleak without Baekhyun by his side, poking at his bruises. Chanyeol had woken up in this room 2 days after the incident, wrapped in far more bandages than he thought was necessary, thinking about everything from the days before, which only made his head hurt. Yixing had entered slowly, silently, and closed the door without saying a word.

Chanyeol had glanced over to him and sat up slowly with a grim frown on his face. “I guess it’s just me this time.”

Yixing had merely stared at him from across the room, hands folded behind his back. He let out a sigh and spoke softly. “Of all the things I told you not to do…”

Chanyeol’s expression was hard and unreadable. “I’m still alive, aren’t I?”

Yixing clenched his jaw. “Barely.”

He stepped closer, rolling his eyes as he reminded him that he was brought into his hospital after having passed out from far too many factors, a concussion and excessive bleeding and burns were few on the list that he stressed, and how he really ought to take better care of himself, but the look on Chanyeol’s face, twisted in so much pain indicated that he wasn’t even listening. Yixing stepped closer to him with a soft sigh, raising one hand from behind his back to place it on top of Chanyeol’s head, letting him lean against his chest as he cried out his sorrows once again, oblivious to the sound of the metal knife slipping from Yixing’s fingers and clattering against the tile floor behind him.

A few days after the funeral, Chanyeol found himself reluctantly heading toward the prison to fill out some paperwork for the city.

Earlier that week, Sehun had explained what happened between the moments that Chanyeol had out, from Jongin teleporting away with him and Jongdae, to finding out that Kyungsoo had disappeared with Chanyeol and Baekhyun before he and Jongin could return. The androids were nothing special without Kyungsoo or Jongdae by their side, and were more of a nuisance than a threat. Although Chanyeol truly wasn’t listening by this point, Sehun went on, groaning and something about it all being an annoying distraction when they had better things to do like find out where Kyungsoo had taken them, when Chanyeol interrupted him.

“So Kyungsoo is…?”

Sehun had glanced up and furrowed his brows, guessing the information that Chanyeol sought. “Presumed dead.”

“And Jongdae?”

Sehun glanced away. “...Detained.”

Chanyeol sighed, sinking back into the depths of his mind. He felt like the only one that had lost in this battle.

Upon reaching the large, old building, Chanyeol was lead through the dark corridors by the warden far into the heart of the containment facility until they reached a large room for interrogation with a thin wooden table in the middle of it and thick bars separating their part of the room from where Jongdae sat in a chair, his hands and ankles chained.

Chanyeol pulled out a chair at the table, and Jongdae leaned back smugly.

“How lucky I must be to be visited by the one and only Park Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol looked up to him with a raised eyebrow before turning to his bag, flipping through a few papers as he muttered, “How lucky you must be to still be alive.”

Jongdae replied with nothing more than a smile as Yixing, Jongin, and Sehun shuffled into the small room behind Chanyeol, leaning against the back wall as the warden closed the door behind them.

Jongdae’s eyes scanned across the people standing in the back, and his smile fell. “It seems like you're too afraid to visit alone, however.”

“Fear has nothing to do with it,” Chanyeol sighed, pulling a stack of papers out of his bag. “I’m here for reasons that they're allowed to listen in to.”

Jongdae leaned forward with a cocky smile. “Is this deja vu? I feel like we’ve gone through this before. And do you know how that ended? With us escaping, and you all shaking in fear.”

Chanyeol sighed, clicking his pencil and scribbling something down as he muttered, “Except we’re keeping you two separate this time, and Kyungsoo was the reason you escaped the first time.”

Jongdae silenced, glaring at Chanyeol between the bars, irritated by the scratching of Chanyeol’s pencil on the paper. He took in a short breath.

“Supernova, huh?” The lead in Chanyeol’s pencil snapped in annoyance. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, clicked his pencil and began writing again. Jongdae leaned back in his chair with a bored frown. “I heard. Tragic. I never expected someone like Baekhyunnie to meet such a typical end, if I’m honest.”

Chanyeol gave him no reaction aside from scribbling down more basic information, trying to drown out anything he was saying.

“Too bad I couldn’t witness it. I’d rather have electrocuted him instead. Go out with a bang.”

Chanyeol’s grip tightened, accidentally snapping his pencil in half. He let out a low annoyed groan, set the broken pencil down, and shot a glare up to Jongdae before fishing another pencil from his bag.

“What’s wrong, Chanyeollie?” Jongdae asked, tilting his head with an infuriating smirk. “Do you miss him? How does it feel? Does it hurt? Knowing that he’s gone because you couldn’t save him, does it hurt?”

Chanyeol could hear Sehun and Jongin shuffling along the wall, exchanging harsh whispers and annoyed grunts, but Chanyeol held up a hand to silence them. He looked up to Jongdae. “It was an honorable sacrifice.” One that shouldn’t have been made.

The crazed look in Jongdae’s eyes didn’t fade. “A sacrifice made by whom? You or him?”

Chanyeol looked at him for a few seconds before glancing away, still struggling with the guilt of letting Baekhyun go. Both times, it was his fault, yet Baekhyun wouldn’t let him take the blame. “Baekhyun made that choice on his own.” Because he wanted to save me. Although I wanted to save him. He let out a soft laugh. “We were partners, after all.” Similar and dumb in all the same ways. “You wouldn’t know, though, would you?” Chanyeol asked, turning the question back to Jongdae. “You wouldn’t know what it’s like to have a real partner.” Jongdae settled down, eyes narrowed as Chanyeol looked down to his notes, uninterested. “Kyungsoo wouldn’t risk his life for you. You’re expendable. That’s why you’re still here. He uses you because you’re simple to manipulate. You don’t know what to do on your own, so you let Kyungsoo tell you what to do instead. After all, you’ve always just been Kyungsoo’s destructive little puppet...” He glanced up to Jongdae with a dangerous smirk playing on his lips. “Haven’t you?”

Something sparked in Jongdae’s eyes, and they flashed a bright green as he leapt forward, his hands only constrained by the chains clamped around his wrists that tangled in the bars between them, his hands barely reaching through the bars, electricity crackling between his fingertips as he snarled.

Chanyeol’s eyes narrowed as he let out a hiss through gritted teeth. “I dare you to try.”

Jongdae’s lips curled into a snarl before he settled back down with a loud groan, holding his face in his hands.

“I expect you to be cooperative, Mr. Kim,” Chanyeol said, clearing his throat as he adjusted his papers, the sneer on Jongdae’s face matched by Chanyeol’s own unpleasant smile. “Now. How about we talk about last week?”

---------------

The room had filled with silence except for the scribbles of Chanyeol’s pencil on his paper.

“Are you done with your dumb questions yet?” Jongdae yawned, “I’m bored and hungry, and seeing your face isn’t making any of that better.”

Chanyeol frowned down to his notes. The paperwork was done as much as it could be with Jongdae’s help, although the sparse information he gave him was anything but useful.

“One more,” Chanyeol mumbled, shuffling through his bag to slowly pull out a dull piece of metal. He set the knife down on the table as everyone in the room stood in silence, watching him turn the weapon until the blade was pointing at Jongdae. Chanyeol looked down to the small, familiar insignia formed on the hilt, and back up to Jongdae. “Would either of you like to tell me why Zhang Yixing had this knife?”

For a few seconds, the room stood eerily silent. Jongdae looked down to the knife and then back up to Chanyeol. “It’s not my knife,” Jongdae sighed, leaning back in his chair. “Perhaps you should ask whoever made it.”

“My sources tell me that Do Kyungsoo is dead.” Jongdae showed no reaction to the news aside from the slight upward twitch of the corners of his lips. Chanyeol grit his teeth. “This is convincing me otherwise.”

“Perhaps you should do your research first before expecting answers from me.”

“Where is Do Kyungsoo.”

“Now, Chanyeol, you know I’d be breaking the rules of the game to disclose information such as–”

Chanyeol stood, throwing his chair back, his voice cracking as he screamed, “Where is Do Kyungsoo!”

As the room settled down from the commotion, Jongdae leaned back in his chair with an infuriating smile, much too calm and secretive for someone like Jongdae, and although Chanyeol knew it was exactly what Jongdae was trying to do and that he shouldn’t give in, it was absolutely pissing him off.

Chanyeol huffed angrily, and with a clench of his fist, he slammed the knife down onto the table, effectively cracking the table in half. The flames of Chanyeol’s anger quickly consumed the wood, and with the blow of a whistle, prison guards rushed in to douse the burning table with buckets of water.

Chanyeol’s hand tightened around the knife as he turned away, rubbing his eyes with a groan and a lowly muttered “God, I cannot stand him,” dismissing himself with a wave to the guards to take Jongdae back to his cell, ignoring the warden’s glare for breaking one of the tables.

As the guards rushed into the room on the opposite side of the bars, Jongdae gave a final shout. “Don’t assume this is the end, Park Chanyeol – he said this would be his greatest stunt yet!”

With a sigh, Chanyeol walked toward the back wall, where Jongin and Sehun were silently staring over at Yixing, who was watching as Jongdae struggled against the guards. Chanyeol stopped in front of Jongin, turning the teleporter’s attention away from Yixing to give him a tired smile. “Thank you for bringing Jongdae here,” he said softly. “Who knows where he’d be if you hadn't.”

“I panicked, Chanyeol,” Jongin spilled out, “I’m… I’m so… I didn’t mean to leave you two behind.”

“It’s okay,” Chanyeol reassured him, patting Jongin’s shoulder. “What’s done is done. You did well.” Jongin tried to speak again, but Chanyeol interrupted. “I mean that, Jongin. Thank you.” Jongin frowned and let his head droop, unable to meet Chanyeol’s eyes. Chanyeol patted his shoulder once more and walked on to stop in front of Yixing.

He took the healer’s hand into his and uncurled Yixing’s fingers. “Thank you,” Chanyeol said softly, placing Kyungsoo’s knife in Yixing’s hands and curling his fingers back over the hilt, “for letting me make things right with Baekhyun. Even if that wasn’t your real intent.”

Yixing cowered back slightly under the weight of Chanyeol’s piercing glare, but Chanyeol quickly turned and walked on, his trench coat flapping behind him as he stepped out of the dark, stuffy building and took a deep breath of fresh air.

“Chanyeol!” Yixing called, running after him. “It was my intent; I wanted you to see him.”

“But that wasn’t all you wanted.” Chanyeol paused, glancing over his shoulder, his eyes laden with the pain of betrayal. “Right, hyung?”

Yixing’s voice softened. “Don’t speak to me like we’re strangers–”

“Are we not?”

“We’re not,” Yixing begged, taking a step closer, stopping only as Chanyeol took a step back. “Chanyeol, I did for you what I did because I care about you. I wanted you to see Baekhyun; I wanted you to smile again.”

“But even if you had a chance to, your intent was never for me to save him,” Chanyeol cut in. “No,” he laughed, “you wanted both of us to die this time. You’re a very good actor, Yixing, I almost believed you were sincere.”

“I was sincere.”

“About what? Who were you loyal to?”

Yixing had the audacity to look hurt. “My allegiance lies with you and Baekhyun, and you know that.”

“Please don’t lie to me today, Zhang Yixing.”

“I’m not.”

Chanyeol let out a sigh. “Why are we here? What else do you want from me, Yixing? There’s nothing to discuss.”

“I think you’re misunderstanding something.”

“What is there to misunderstand? You planned to make me happy, then to make me hurt, and then stick a knife into me when I was the weakest.”

Yixing silenced for a second. “...That is a separate matter.”

“But you’re not denying it.”

Yixing’s eyes shifted away.

“Could I have saved him?” Chanyeol cried, his voice cracking in distress. “Could I? Could I do it again? How many lies did you tell me that week? How long have you been plotting with them to kill us?”

Yixing shook his head. “It wasn’t to kill you, it was–”

“To break me? To hurt me, to wound me, to watch me crack? To push me so close to the edge that you’d hope I’d fall off on my own so you wouldn’t have to soil your own pristine, white gloves?” Chanyeol let out a weak laugh, though his eyes flashed a bright red as he glared at him, his lip curled in a snarl. “You were right – you’re no healer, Yixing.”

The healer’s lips slowly closed, and he looked away unable to meet Chanyeol’s eyes.

Chanyeol let himself calm as he focused on Yixing’s defeated stance, and although he looked so small and fragile, Chanyeol wasn't about to give in. “You took Baekhyun away from me. You’re already killing me as it is; I don’t know why you stopped. Would you rather watch me suffer again instead? Do you think that’s worse than death?”

Yixing still stared at the floor, his fingers clenching at his sides, lips sealed in a tight line.

“Could I have saved him?” Chanyeol asked once more, his voice a shaky whisper. Yixing’s eyes shifted away. “Could I? Did you tell me I couldn’t so you wouldn’t have to kill both of us? Instead you let me lead my husband to his death? Did you?!”

Yixing finally let out an answer in a soft breath of air. “No, Chanyeol, I–”

“Are you lying to me?” Chanyeol nearly shouted, stepping toward him. “Could I save him, could I do it again–”

“You can’t! What’s done is done, and there’s no use questioning–”

Yixing was silenced by Chanyeol’s slightly off-target punch to his jaw that made him fall to the floor. He held his hand to his cheek, and the pain quickly subsided as he stared up to Chanyeol, whose eyes were glowing that furious red as he huffed angrily.

“You knew our relationship was weak, and you used that against us – how dare you, Yixing.”

Yixing merely stared at him, stunned into silence as he watched Chanyeol’s red eyes fill with frustrated tears, his lips quivering as he struggled to speak. “I trusted you, hyung.” He clenched his jaw, trying to stabilize his voice. “Baekhyun treated you like family, and you just turned away as he died.”

“I didn’t, Chanyeol, I’ve told you…” Yixing’s voice trailed off as he realized that the look in Chanyeol’s eyes indicated that he wasn’t going to accept anything he said. “... he was already dying the first time.” He looked away. “There’s no point being mad at me about it now.”

“I’m not mad, hyung,” Chanyeol seethed through gritted teeth, clenching his fists at his side, his body nearly shaking as he tried to withhold his rage, but his eyes betrayed his emotions, and neither of them were sure whom he was trying to convince. Honestly, he wasn't sure what he was feeling. Disappointed with you, upset, frustrated and hurt, maybe. “I’m not mad.”

Yixing still couldn’t meet his eyes.

Chanyeol looked away with a scoff. “How much did Kyungsoo pay you?” he asked. “You’ve always taken a liking to shiny things that you can’t have, no matter the cost.”

Yixing struggled to stand, noticing that the malice in Chanyeol’s voice referenced something far in the past. “I wouldn’t do something so rash over an old grudge.”

Chanyeol turned back to him with a condescending smile. “Then what was it for? How could you try to kill us?”

Yixing closed his eyes with a short sigh. “Kyungsoo had offered me a deal, which I turned down the first time when he told me what he was planning to do. But with the condition you were in, none of you were ready for the next attack they were planning. The city would have been gone the next day if I hadn’t done this. I had to, Park. I turned him down the first time; I thought it would be better the second time.”

Chanyeol’s demeanor dropped. “So this wasn't for me after all.”

Yixing spoke softly with a sad smile. “I’m not that benevolent, Chanyeol.”

Chanyeol shook his head with a laugh. “It’s my fault again, isn’t it?” he asked, his laughter getting louder. “I should have known; you’ve always been selfish. Never cared who you had to step on as long as you would rise.” He laughed again, misery tainting smile, quivering at the corners. “I should have known.”

Yixing took a slow step forward. “It was for you too. Kill two birds with one stone.” He cringed at the idiom. “T-That’s not what I meant. It… It was for you to see Baekhyun, and also for me to take the deal.”

Chanyeol glared down to him. “So you planned to give me a few happy last moments, let me die with my husband in my arms or kill me yourself, and then let him destroy the town.”

“If your team was gone, he wouldn’t destroy the town.”

“And you believed him?”

Yixing paused and his eyes shifted away. “I’m not that gullible.”

“Then you had another source of motivation?” When Yixing didn’t answer, Chanyeol’s voice softened. “You would kill us for more power?”

“It was all of our death or more power, there was no other option. Neither of you would have survived anyway.”

“You don’t believe that,” Chanyeol interrupted. “Don’t you have any faith in us? It’s only true because you set it up this way.”

Yixing stared at Chanyeol for a few seconds and finally lowered his head. “Perhaps I was too rash. It was a mistake I shouldn’t have made.”

“A mistake,” Chanyeol scoffed. “I know how you are, Yixing, and this was no mistake.”

Yixing’s silence was unnerving, like ice cubes slowly sliding down Chanyeol’s back, until Yixing broke it with a soft chuckle. “You’re right, aren’t you?” He slowly looked back up with a wicked gleam in his eyes, the same sinister twitch of his lips twisting into a nefarious smirk, his dimple deep with dishonesty. “It wasn’t a mistake at all. You were so desperate… it was so simple… I couldn’t resist.” He took a bold step forward, delighted as Chanyeol stumbled back. “You shattered so easily the first time you lost Baekhyun, and I knew the second would be no different. Seeing you in such distress is so rare and beautiful, whether I did what I did for Kyungsoo or if I did it for you, I wanted to see you break.” He stepped forward with a distorted chuckle and reached out to hold Chanyeol’s chin in his hand. “I wanted to watch you destroy yourself again – crumble in on yourself in despair until there was nothing left–” Chanyeol slapped his hand away, and Yixing drew in a deep breath.

“You’re disgusting,” Chanyeol growled back at him, curling his fingers to keep himself from getting into another fight, watching Yixing’s eyes gleam with his erse fascination with the types of pain that his own fingers couldn’t heal.

“However,” Yixing muttered, the twinkle fading from his eye as he closed them, “don’t think that means this would have ended any better if I hadn’t done this. I thought about my options for a long time too.” He looked back up to Chanyeol. “If you’ll ever believe me once more, believe me now: I am not lying to you.”

Chanyeol’s voice was low, strained through gritted teeth. “Should I thank you?”

“You shouldn’t curse me,” Yixing responded simply.

“I’ll stop cursing you when Baekhyun comes back.”

A short pause. “I’m…”

Chanyeol didn’t wait for the word “Sorry” to follow, knowing it wouldn’t come. He let out a heavy, annoyed sigh. “It doesn't matter anymore. What’s done is done.”

Yixing pulled a small lily out from his pocket and held it out to him with a frown. Chanyeol didn't accept it. Yixing took a bold step closer, never taking his eyes off Chanyeol’s, as hard as diamond, to press his thumb to the corner of Chanyeol’s lip to heal a recent wound. “It’s a better alternative to what they were planning. I have my reasons, Yeol; you would have lost him either way.”

“But I didn’t have to,” Chanyeol responded, pushing Yixing back from him. “You could have warned us; we could have taken them down together; we could have tried at least–”

“Will you just believe me and let it be?”

“Should I believe anything you tell me anymore?”

Yixing’s expression softened as the lily began to wilt between his fingertips. “I’ve been your doctor for years, Yeol. Your friend for longer.”

“Keep your friends close and your enemies closer? Well played, old friend.”

Yixing quickly reached out to catch Chanyeol’s wrist. “We’re not… enemies.”

“You’re right,” Chanyeol said, shooting a glare at him as he tugged his arm away. “We’re nothing.”

And with that, he turned and began to walk away, leaving Yixing staring at the tail of his coat, until Chanyeol paused.

He glanced over his shoulder and asked, “Is Do Kyungsoo alive?”

Yixing stood there in silence and folded his lips into a thin line.

Chanyeol shook his head. “No – would you have still tried to kill me if he wasn’t?”

Yixing just stared back at him until he looked down to the floor, unable to meet Chanyeol’s stare.

Chanyeol turned back around with a sigh, his coat flapping in the wind as he adjusted his hat on his head and walked off into the distance.

Yixing merely watched as he let the dead lily unconsciously slip from his fingers and fall to the ground.

---------------

Baekhyunnie...

...Can you hear me?

Chanyeol stretched in the dull yellow light of the dim streetlamps, giving a shiver as the heat of late summer began fading into an autumn chill. He locked his house door behind him, stuffed his hands into his pockets, and began his walk.

Happy anniversary, my love.

He let out a soft yawn in the early morning air, his body still laden with fatigue, especially after spending so much time playing around with Sehun and the others the night before, but the air was crisp and sweet, although the scent of last night’s rain made his nose scrunch. Chanyeol paused at a red streetlight and glanced up to the sky, watching the grey clouds slowly bunch together to cover the setting moon.

It’s almost been a year since you left, and I still can’t get used to the fact that you’re gone.

The walk was a silent and lonely one; very few people stopped to greet him during their morning commute, but Chanyeol didn't mind the silence. He’d tip his hat to a few strangers on the way to wherever his feet led him, and then fade back into the depths of his mind.

Your stuff is still here, just the way it was left. All of your high scores on our video games are still at the top, and no one sits in your spot on the couch. I don’t even play your piano; it doesn’t sound as pretty when it's not your fingers pressing the keys. I still keep all my old hoodies in your part of the closet because it just feels like they belong there, and I always remember to keep the lilies on the table watered.

He didn't mind being alone. He would compensate by imagining Baekhyun glowing by his side, twirling as he gave off a brilliant light, skipping ahead of him, laughing, playing, just like the old Baekhyun used to, and Chanyeol would smile as he watched him, until Baekhyun approached the black cast iron gate that led to their destination and waved him over toward it to “hurry up and enter.”

Jongdae’s on parole. I had told them I preferred that he stay locked up forever, but no one wants to listen to me. Apparently he was supposed to join our “team,” if it still even is a team, so we could teach him things like how to be decent. No one really trusts him out by himself, although his resolve to destroy everything in sight has weakened without Kyungsoo by his side telling him what to do. I still want to kill him. No one will let me.

The walk wasn't a pain, aside from the squish of mud from the recent rain under his feet, as he trudged along the trails, following the light Baekhyun left behind up the large, grassy hill, with a single large tree sitting at the top, the leaves already beginning to put on their autumn attire. Chanyeol held his hand to his eyes and stared up to the clouds, still moving across the sky as slow as ever as the sun began to rise, trying its hardest to shed the golden light of dawn between the few remaining cracks in the clouds.

Kyungsoo is gone, though no one will tell me where. Maybe he’s dead. Maybe he’s plotting something big again. We’re not sure anymore which one seems more likely. No one wants to think about it.

As Chanyeol reached the top of the hill, he let out a heavy sigh at the sight. Fireflies danced around the base of the tree as Baekhyun laughed, childishly dancing along in circles with them. Chanyeol slowly approached the small slab of concrete at the base of the tree, each step in the mud becoming more difficult. Baekhyun glanced in his direction and gave him a small smile before he slowly faded back into the soft morning light as the fireflies scattered, and soon, he was alone again, holding a small bouquet of pure white lilies in his hand, as he stood solemnly in front of the headstone.

“Good morning, Baekhyun.”

I seem to have become an attraction for the neighborhood kids. You know, kind of like the way you used to show them tricks with your light in the night? ...Until their mothers came out shouting at us. Yet they always came back, attracted to the things they didn’t understand, amazed by such simple things like a flame that used to burn solely because you wanted it to, or a light that used to guide us through the dark.

He set the flowers down next to the ones from his last visit, before sitting next to them under the shade of the large tree. With a large sigh, he placed his head back against the trunk and closed his eyes, letting the autumn morning air wash over him.

We found a new friend a few weeks ago; his name is Junmyeon. He tried to stop it from raining when he forgot his umbrella, but once he realized I was watching him, he tried to run away. Even though he can control water, he’s really not the best at it. Kind of reminds you a little of me way back when we met, doesn’t it? Scared and lost. He’s happy with us now, though he’s more like the leader our little team never had. Like a mom, or something. He’s taken a liking to Jongdae, more than I’d prefer, but he seems to know how to keep him calm when they’re out in the rain together. I hope we’ll find more people like us soon.

Chanyeol turned to the flowers by his side, white lilies bright against the dull, green grass. He reached out, taking a flower petal between his fingers, and leaned down to smell it, sweet and reminiscent as it mixed with the familiar scent of soon-to-be-coming rain. He lay back with a sigh, closing his eyes as he toyed with the petals, thinking about the way he and Baekhyun used to stay awake at night to watch the moon and the stars twinkle in the night sky, hoping that perhaps his husband was finally where he felt the most comfortable – amongst all the stars.

It’s kind of funny. Even though we’re not superheroes anymore, I still feel like we’re saving people. This is truly what you wanted anyway, wasn’t it? To help people in need; to get those like us to stop hiding. To stand up for ourselves. To realize we’re not bad or wrong for being the odd ones out. Even though we’re always ready to help out the town when anyone’s in trouble, it doesn’t seem like our main concern anymore. Besides... it would be difficult to do what we used to without you or Yixing.

No one has told me where he went either. I think everyone is afraid I’ll disappear next.

A single droplet from the sky diverted his attention from the flowers. He slowly stood up and walked out from under the branches of the tree and stared up to the sky, his hair covering his eyes as he peered up to the clouds that had finally blocked out all the light from dawn. Another droplet of rain on his nose made him cringe.

Does this make you happy, Baekhyun? Are you happy?

There was a another drop of water, and then another. Chanyeol just stood there, staring as it picked up and began to rain harder, until it was a downpour, and he was drenched by the overwhelming rain.

I miss you.

Chanyeol hated the rain.

He hated the way it smelled. He hated the way it tasted. He hated the way it sounded.

I love you.

He hated the way it could go from a light mist one second to sheets and buckets of rain the next. He hated the way it brought the grey gloom and misery along with it. He hated the way it could extinguish his obstinate flame so easily.

It’s hard. Being here without you is hard.

But most of all, he hated how the clouds gathered in bunches of grey, blocking out the light from the sun, as though it was mocking him. Mocking him because his light was gone.

But I’m trying. Because you used to hate it when I gave up.

Most of all, he hated how it kept him from seeing heaven.

Everywhere I look, I see your absence, even in the darkness behind my closed eyelids. In my dreams. In my nightmares. But sometimes, I’ll close my eyes and count to ten, knowing that when I open them, it’ll be brighter, there will be a path lit, and somehow, I’ll find my way out.

He hated how it kept him from seeing the stars.

You used to be the light that lit up these paths for me – the thing I looked for whenever I was lost – and now I have to find my own. I’ll find my way back to you somehow. But until then, no matter how hard I try, the worst part is...

He hated how it kept him from seeing Baekhyun.

...that my world will always be just a little bit darker without you.

********

A/n: If I’m honest, I’m afraid that I rushed a few parts, but I really enjoyed writing this [ and I got to watch a lot of sword fighting ;) and then decided it was too difficult to write, but it was fun to watch ], so I hope you enjoyed reading it as well :) I know it’s kinda far away from what I usually post, but I missed writing some things like this and knew I was never going to finish this if I didn’t post it lol ANYWAYS this will probably be my last character death thing for a while so whoop i hope it was a fun journey :) Yeeeeyyyy :D